The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China welcomes the announcement of new reporting regulations that recognize the right of foreign reporters to travel where they wish without prior permission and to interview anyone who is willing.
“If properly implemented, we believe this will mark a step forward in the opening of China’s media environment,” said club president Jonathan Watts. “We urge the government to ensure that police and local officials respect the spirit as well as the letter of the new rules. The easing of controls for foreign journalists should not be achieved at the expense of putting more pressure on local sources.”
The FCCC urges China to take further steps including the enactment of legislation protecting news sources, the abolition of rules obliging hotels to report to police when a foreign journalist checks in, and the opening of restricted areas, such as Tibet. We will continue to monitor cases of reporting interference and we remain willing to work with the authorities to improve working conditions for journalists in China.
Join Beijing’s foreign correspondents and friends for drinks and chat at the next FCCC Happy Hour. The last one was so well attended, we almost had a beer crisis!
Date: Friday, October 10
Time: 6.30-10.30pm
Venue: The Bookworm, Nan Sanlitun Lu (www.beijingbookworm.com)
Bar deal: pint Yanjing draught 10 kuai, pint Carlsberg draught 20 kuai, house wine 25 kuai, all other drinks 20% discount
Arlene Blum, mountaineer and environmental activist, will share with us the dramatic slides of her adventures on some of the world’s most challenging mountains, as well as the work she has done as a chemist and environmental activist to limit the damage of flame-retardant chemicals on health, the environment, and the food chain.
Date: Thursday, October 9th, 2008
Time: 4.30pm
Venue: Private function room (ground floor), The Saddle Cantina, Nali Patio, Sanlitun (see below for full address and directions)
Entrance: FCCC members free, non-members 50 rmb
Special drinks deal: Half-price strawberry and lime margaritas and homebrewed beer
Copies of Mountains and Molecules will be on sale on the door
We need to know numbers, so RSVP to book your place to fcccadmin@gmail.com
About the speaker:
From self-described “inept” beginnings, Arlene Blum, author of Annapurna: A Woman’s Place, has played a leading role in more than twenty successful mountaineering expeditions, including climbs of Denali and Everest. A pioneer in chemistry and the environment, her research helped remove cancer-causing flame retardant chemicals from children’s sleepware. She continues to be active in fighting chemicals that accumulate in the food chain, work in which her passion has been fanned by her mountaineering experiences and love of dramatic wild places.
The Saddle Cantina:
West wing, Nali Patio, 81 Sanlitun Beilu (south of 3.3 Shopping Center), Chaoyang District
Tel: 5208 6005
Click on link for map
