The Christian Science Monitor correspondent, Peter Ford, was detained and questioned for three hours after the police broke up a house church meeting in Nanyang, Henan province he had been reporting on with his assistant.
Around 15 people including uniformed and plainclothes police, Religious Affairs Bureau officials and a man who said he was from the Waiban (but offered no identification) raided the house church at around 9.30 in the morning and took Peter and his assistant to the Jin Di Yuan Hotel. In a room there police took his passport and press card details and (they said) checked them against an online data base. Peter was told that he had been attending an “unlawful gathering” and subjected to intermittent questioning by the “Waiban” representative (who behaved more like a policeman) about his motives for being in Nanyang, how he had contacted the house church, what he had talked about with its members, and so on. A Religious Affairs Bureau official took notes of the questions and answers and at one point a photographer took pictures of Peter with the note-taker.
The questioning was polite, and at no time was Peter asked to hand over his notes or video. He was driven to Nanyang airport in time to catch the plane to Beijing he had intended to take.
The leader of the house church, Zhang Mingxuan, whom Peter had interviewed at length the day before, had been arrested at around 7.30 that morning. He phoned Peter on Friday evening to say that he and his wife had been held in another hotel until 17.00 and then released even though he had refused to sign a document officially abolishing the “House Church Alliance” he had founded. More than a dozen church members were apparently detained in a local police station until 13.00.
Where? Ginkgo (formerly called Room 101), Jiaodaokou
When? Saturday, 6th December 2008 (8pm till late)
What? Mulled wine, beer, mixed drinks, Stollen, savoury snacks, festive tunes, drunken Santa, annual FCCC video, plus live Cuban band playing “Have yourself a Merry Commie Christmas”
Tickets now on sale. They’ll sell like hot mince pies, so rsvp to fcccadmin@gmail.com to guarantee your place.
Tickets bought in advance: members 150 rmb; non-members 200 rmb
Ticket price on the door: members 200 rmb; non-members 250 rmb
Members can buy 2 tickets at member prices
How to buy tickets:
FCCC office: daily 2-6pm (phone first on 8532 3807), 44 Guanghua Lu, western end, opposite Brazilian embassy, above Sequoia cafe
Any FCCC event
Send a driver/assistant
Call us to make special arrangements
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China is appalled by the violent attack on the Belgian TV crew and calls on the central government to track down and punish those responsible.
“This illegal and brutal act is a disgrace to Henan and to China,” said Jonathan Watts, president of the FCCC. “If the government is serious about the rule of law and opening to the media, the culprits must be caught and punished. There is enough evidence to identify the perpetrators. The central authorities should send a clear message that local governments must not use thugs to intimidate journalists.”
The incident occurred about a month after the government announced new regulations for foreign reporters. According to the new rules, China “adopts a basic state policy of opening up to the outside world” and “protects the lawful rights” of foreign journalists.
Belgian VRT journalist Tom Van de Weghe, his cameraman and assistant were beaten up and robbed of tapes, phones and money as they attempted to report on HIV-Aids in Shangqiu County, Henan province.
Eight thugs pulled their van over, reached inside to unlock the doors, dragged the crew on to the road and punched them into submission.
“I thought they were going to kill us,” said Van de Weghe. “One of them gave me a heavy blow to the head. They acted like animals. It was terrifying.”
Earlier in the day, the reporters had been questioned by a policeman. Soon after, they were followed by two unmarked cars. After several hours, they were stopped again, surrounded and forced to hand over a tape. Locals said the thugs in this incident were Zhoukou and Gangshan county officials.
The journalists tried to return to the airport, but their van was pulled over a third time on a dark road, where the violent assault took place. The reporters were beaten until they handed over their tapes, identity cards and belongings.
The thugs stole 1800 yuan from Van de Weghe’s wallet as well as his tapes, mobile phone, camera and memory cards. Two days after the attack, he is still suffering from headaches caused by the blows.
A local man told the reporters the same thugs had earlier beaten Chinese journalists and Aids activists, including Li Dan. The locals said the thugs were officials working for Shuangmiao village and Shangqiu county. The leader of the gang was called Dong. Van de Weghe noted down their Shangqiu license plate number 66132.
VRT has lodged a protest at the Chinese embassy in Brussels, demanding compensation for the damages incurred; apologies to the journalist and his crew and to the VRT; and a guarantee that the VRT journalist can resume his work safely in accordance with international protocols and the principles of the freedom of press.
We are pleased to welcome Daniel Bell, Confucian scholar and author of a new book, China’s New Confucianism, as a discussion on Confucianism as a political model for China today. Please join us for a discussion of whether Confucianism could be considered a religion, Confucian views on freedom of the press, Confucian-inspired bonding over karaoke, and more.
Date: Tue, Dec 2, 2008
Time: 6.00pm
Venue: private function room (upstairs), Paddy O’Shea’s (address and map attached)
Entrance: members free, non-members 50 rmb
Bar deal: 30% off all drinks
It helps the venue to know numbers, so please RSVP to fcccadmin@gmail.com
About the speaker:
Daniel Bell is a professor of political philosophy at Tsinghua University, where he is the only foreign professor in the philosophy department. He has lived in Hong Kong and China since 1995. He graduated from McGill and received his Masters and PhD from Oxford. His latest book, China’s New Confucianism, was published in 2008
