Chinese authorities have arranged a trip to Tibet from March 26-28 for a small group of international media. This brief, tightly managed trip falls far short of fulfilling China’s promise, made during its bid for the 2008 Olympic Games, of free media reporting.
The FCCC calls on the Chinese government to allow all other foreign correspondents who wish to report in Tibet, and Tibetan areas in other provinces, to be permitted to do so at the earliest possible date — and to enable them to work and travel without government interference.
We also urge Chinese authorities to allow the foreign media group that departed for Tibet March 26 unfettered freedom to report, and to safeguard the Constitutional right of free expression for Chinese nationals who agree to be interviewed. We are extremely concerned about recent reports that sources in Tibetan areas and elsewhere have experienced various forms of intimidation.
Following unrest in Lhasa and other Tibetan communities, foreign correspondents have notified the FCCC of more than 40 violations — nearly all by local officials — of the Olympics-period foreign media reporting regulations which began Jan. 1, 2007. Although official efforts to assist journalists who’ve encountered interference are appreciated, we call on Chinese authorities to improve implementation of the new regulations as quickly as possible.
The Foreign Correspondents Club of China urges the Chinese government to immediately allow correspondents into Tibetan areas for news coverage.
“Reporting interference is not in the interest of the Chinese government which is trying to show a more open, transparent and accountable image to the world,” said FCCC President Melinda Liu.
As of March 21, the FCCC has been informed of more than 39 foreign journalists who have faced obstruction while reporting on topics related to Tibet. In some instances Chinese authorities scrutinized, confiscated or deleted reporting materials. The locations where the reporting interference occurred include Lhasa, Beijing, Chengdu in Sichuan Province, Xining and Tongren in Qinghai Province, and several locations in Gansu Province.
On March 20 in Chengdu, reporter for Swedish Radio Hanna Sahlberg said police questioned a hotel receptionist she had been interviewing for about five minutes in Chengdu and told her “there is a new rule, you are not allowed to interview in this area.” The police declined to say which area, when the “new rule” started, or who issued it.
“Such interference is not in keeping with reporting regulations adopted during the Olympics period — and is especially not in keeping with the international community’s expectations of an Olympic host nation,” said Liu.
When Beijing was bidding for the Olympics in 2001, Wang Wei, Secretary General of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), promised to give international media “complete freedom to report when they come to China.”
On January 1, 2007 China introduced temporary Olympic-period regulations allowing foreign journalists to interview any organizations or individuals who consent. The regulation expires on October 17, 2008, after the Paralympic Games.
Police at a roadblock five hours’ drive southwest of Chengdu ordered a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s television crew to return to Chengdu and “not venture out of the city.” The three-member TV crew was trying to reach Tibetan areas.
“The police officers who manned the roadblock on the only road leading to the area were polite but firm. They said no foreigner was allowed into the area because of concerns for their safety,” said CBC Bureau Chief Michel Cormier.
Police stopped a three-person CNN TV crew led by reporter Jon Vause at a police checkpoint about 300 kilometres from Aba, their intended destination in Sichuan province and the origin of reports alleging multiple Tibetan shooting victims.
Police told the journalists to step out of the car, took their photos, and wrote down details from their passports. The police acted firmly but politely, and asked the crew to turn around.
Police turned back a reporter from Britain’s The Guardian after he drove over a mountain pass to enter an Linxia, Gansu province, an area near the border between with Sichuan where protests had taken place.
Reporter Jonathan Watts said an English-speaking officer told him “There is a police action taking place. Foreigners are not allowed inside. These are the orders of high authority.”
He said a Foreign Ministry official told a colleague: “When there is some emergency, the local authority has the power to set up prohibited areas for outsiders. This is for the stability and unity of that province and this country.”
