She recounts the story below:

We left Chengdu early to get to the quake villages before officials woke up, to hopefully get some interviews in before they caught us. Sure enough, 20 minutes into one interview, they arrived. We went to the police station, they grilled us and the driver, called the (foreign affairs) and propaganda people of Dujiangyan. We stayed at least two hours and they then told us to go register at the Dujiangyan propaganda department — we had to do that to be able to report in the area.

So we did, not very optimistic they would let us continue. But the guy at the department, to our surprise, asked us where we wanted to go, and took us there. We went back to the village where I had interviewed the woman, finished her interview and interviewed another mum. Needless to say officials were present in our interviews, so it wasn’t very free (one of the mum’s mothers told me how well the Communist Party was looking after them!). So it’s not like we got great quotes or anything. And these mums weren’t the ones who have been vocal about the schools. I’m pretty sure if we’d tried to interview them, we would have got nowhere.

But still, I thought it was a sign of them trying to open up in their way, in an area that has been under such lockdown.

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(May 7, 2010) Police in Beijing called in for questioning and threatened the job of a Chinese news assistant working for German television, after he followed his employer’s direct instructions and filmed video at a migrant school slated for demolition in the capital, during which time the school’s principal was injured.

Journalist Pia Schrörs reported to the FCCC the following details of her assistant’s incident:

“My assistant and I were summoned to the PSB Exit-Entry Bureau on May 4 for interrogation. We were questioned independently. (My assistant) was questioned for 40 minutes; I was questioned round about 80 minutes.

They blamed my assistant for reporting independently from an incident in the afternoon on Friday, 30th April in Cuigezhuang Cun, Chaoyang District, Beijing. There is a spot where several private schools for children of migrant workers are located and those schools are supposed to be demolished. Our contact informed us of on Friday that demolition would begin. I was in Shanghai to cover the Expo, so I sent my assistant to the school. I told him to use a small video camera to pick up some impressions and information and to shoot some pictures.

When my assistant arrived the school principal was standing on the flat roof of the two-floor-building and was trying to delay the demolition. Some Chinese journalists were also present. A few minutes later, police arrived and registered all the reporters. The journalists were sent away back 200 meters, behind a line of police cars. From that distance they saw the principal suddenly fall from the roof. It was not clear how that happened. We heard later the principal suffered head injuries and a broken leg. He is in hospital.

During our May 4 interrogations, my assistant was threatened and intimidated. An official told him he will lose his job and will never again work for any media in China if he doesn’t confess that he had done something wrong. The officer said: “I can save you and I can destroy you.” My assistant was ordered to sign a confession, to which he added that he did nothing wrong and was working as instructed.

While I was interrogated the officials also said my assistant might lose his job because he was not cooperative. I had to sign a document in Chinese characters, which I couldn’t read. They translated it word-by-word, but I couldn’t confirm the translation. They added a statement saying: “We are working on a big report about resettlement,” even though I had not said this. They finally deleted this line.

As I mentioned, they claim the problem as that my assistant engaged in “independent reporting.” But: Every step he made was ordered and authorized by me. My assistant had been told at a seminar for journalists’ assistants of the Diplomatic Services Bureau last year that he is allowed to shoot, collect materials and do researches. He is just not allowed to publish by himself.

I then brought up the Beijing Auto Fair. I told the interrogators there were a lot of Chinese news assistants working there on their own. I asked why they were not detained and one official replied it is due to the sensitivity of the subject.

On May 7, my assistant met with the DSB. They told him it was the first time he had broken the rules and because he is inexperienced with this kind of situation, they will not withdraw his work license. But they claimed that they were generally able to do so and appealed to him to “learn something from this.”

Furthermore they said if there are similar orders by his agency in future and he was unclear about their legality, he should consult the DSB. They said topics like June 4th, democracy movements and human rights were examples of sensitive topics.

Generally the meeting took place in a friendly atmosphere.”

The ministry official expressed dissatisfaction that York and his coverage had raised questions about the case and about the fairness of the Chinese legal system. The official also expressed displeasure with a 63-word article about the plight of Tibetans, Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities.

Maass was prevented by police from going to the city of Shigatse to do his story, while interview subjects in Lhasa, as well as a travel agency he had hired a car from, were heavily fined and warned not to talk to him.

Maass was summoned by the Foreign Ministry on May 15 and strongly criticized for his trip. A ministry official told Maass to “correct his mistakes.”

Nine Hong Kong reporters arrived at the Chengdu courthouse around 7 a.m.
We wanted to interview the lawyer and relatives of Sichuan earthquake activist Tan Zuoren outside the courthouse, before the trial was scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. Around 9 a.m. police ordered us to enter the courthouse. When we refused to go, they used physical force, and shoved us into a holding room.
One reporter who was carried in was slightly injured in a scuffle.

The authorities said they wanted to check our media credentials. Around 10 a.m., after the verdict was issued, the authorities returned our credentials and released us. We went outside the courthouse and tried to interview the lawyer about the five-year prison sentence for subversion, but uniformed police kept pushing us around. They said we were violating regulations by blocking the sidewalk. Despite the disruptions, we were eventually able to complete the interviews.

“The Swiss TV team of four traveled to Yunnan province to produce the last part of a documentary about the Mekong River from Nov. 30-Dec. 9. After filming in Mengsa town, Gengma county and interviewing people relocated for the Xiaowan dam, we were stopped by local officials. Although I have a press card issued by Beijing and my cameraman was traveling on a journalist visa, we were told that we are not allowed to film in Yunnan as there are special rules. They failed to specify the rules. We had an official invitation from the state-owned Huaneng Group (headed by the son of former premier Li Peng) to visit the dam, yet we were escorted by a police car five hours away from the dam to Dali. We were told that we are not allowed to come back to do an already arranged interview with the Huaneng deputy CEO. The foreign affairs official from Lincang, Mrs. Yang Fengmei, told us that she has never seen a press card before and did not know about the new reporting rules for foreign media. When we asked her to show us the special rules they were referring to, they said the rules are not written down.

We left the hotel in Dali at 3 a.m. to avoid detection and drove back to the dam for the interview. We got a warm welcome from the management of the Huaneng Group. They knew about our filming with the relocated people and were still very happy to receive us. They would have been very upset if we would not have made it as they flew in from Kumning to talk to us. During the day and over dinner they thanked us for coming and filming, and invited the Swiss TV to report on the dam opening party next year.

The next day we drove to Weixi County where we had an oral invitation from the school master of the state-operated school. We wanted to show the live of the Lisu people and how they are integrated and supported by the government. We started filming in the morning and soon we started to be followed by a policewoman, and four officials from the local government. They were with us all day and observed filming. When we wanted to leave and continue our journey along the Mekong River to Deqin, they said we were not allowed. We had an invitation letter from Mr. Awa, head of tourism in Shangri-la, inviting us to film scenic spots in Deqin and Shangri-la. Despite that official invitation, the officials from Weixi blocked our way and forced us on an eight-hour drive away from the Mekong to Shangri-La town. The whole trip was very dangerous as they made us drive at night and our driver was very tired and started to fall asleep. We did not plan on an eight-hour trip in a different direction. The team who came from Switzerland was very upset as our whole purpose was to travel along the Mekong. Also, the Weixi officials had no clue about the new rules for journalists, did not know what my press card was and ignored our official invitation.

They eventually brought us to Shangri-la but using a different route than that we needed for our documentary. There, we were again followed and controlled by local officials. Our interviewee, a local scenery photographer was harassed and told not talk to us. The boss of the tourism office in Shangri-la who invited us, Mr. Awa was not in town and his deputy had no clue how to deal with the situation. Every night they came to the hotel and wanted us to write letters promising not to say anything negative about the region. It was completely absurd as we are doing a tourist piece on Shangri-la.

When we finally reached Mr. Awa over the phone he was very angry with his office and his deputy and his crew came to the hotel to apologize for the way they treated us.

We had to endure harassment during the whole trip. Twice we were forced to drive hours away from our intended locations. We were guarded in hotels by local police and authorities. The whole trip became much more expensive than planned and we filmed only a portion of what was needed. We all had proper accreditations and official invitations. Various local officials repeatedly broke the 2008 rules for foreign journalists.”

From Tomas Etzler of Czech TV, who later flew in to attempt to finish filming:

“I traveled to Yunnan with my assistant on Saturday, December 12. I was supposed to film for half a day some material for the Swiss National TV, which their team could not do because of harassment and interference. I was also filming the Mekong River for the Czech TV.

We flew to Lincang, where we were picked up by a local farmer from Mengsa, Gengma county, his cousin and a driver. After driving for two hours, on the way to the farmer’s village, we stopped for a dinner. Immediately after entering the restaurant, two men followed us in and showed us Public Security Bureau badges. They must have been following us from the airport in Lincang. They took us to the Public Security Bureau office in a nearby town of Fengqing, Lincang County. In a conference room, there were officials from Public Security Bureau, Foreign Office, Propaganda Office, County Leaders, Environmental Protection Bureau and Construction Bureau already waiting for us. They were ready — that’s why I think they picked us up at the airport and had time to get ready for us. First, they claimed they have no idea about new reporting rules. Later, they switched to saying that the new rules do not apply to Yunnan. Then they told me that we broke the law. When I asked them which specific law, the answer was that we misunderstood them that we broke not a law but a rule.

When I asked them which rule, they replied it is an unwritten rule, regarding the threat of H1N1 virus and that’s why no foreigners are allowed there. When I asked them when I am allowed back, they said they do not know. At the end I was told that when: “You foreign journalists show up somewhere, crowds gather around you and may cause social disturbance.”

The whole conversation was filmed. They told us it was for local TV, but I find that hard to believe. At the end the county leader called a taxi for us and told us to leave immediately. There was no way to reason with these people. When I told the main speaker, Mrs. Yang Fengmei, the deputy chief of the Foreign Affairs Bureau in Lincang (the same woman who harassed the Swiss crew some 10 days earlier) that she is breaking the rules on foreign journalists and that I will complain to MOFA and IPC, she laughed at us and said “Please, do so.”

They also attacked my assistant that she should be ashamed to work for foreign media. I do not know exactly what was said but she looked very upset and frightened.

I did not film a frame of video. I did not even have an opportunity to take camera out of my back-pack. I was in Yunnan barely for a few hours when I was picked up. Me and my assistant had all the accreditations needed to work as journalists in China.

The farmer who picked us up was also questioned but was later released without harm.”

Italian journalist Beniamino Natale, traveling with a photographer friend, attempted to check in at the Seaman Hotel but was refused and sent to Qini Bagh, told it was the only hotel allowed to host foreign reporters. Natale recalls: “The morning after my arrival a policeman was waiting for me in the lobby. He asked me if I was on holiday. I said yes.”

“He said Kashgar has a particular situation and there are particular rules. I told him that I am a guest of China holding a J visa and that I respect the law of China. The day after, as we were walking in the old city, he came shouting after me with another guy. I told him he was abusing his power and that I am a guest of China, and went on walking and shooting photos with my friend.”

An officer from the local foreign affairs office showed up, was very polite and told the journalist the same thing. Later, Natale hired a local guide and noticed on the way back to the hotel, the guide followed him. The guide admitted that he was instructed by police to follow Natale and report back. Earlier in the week, Natale was blocked from entering the Id Kah Mosque to watch prayers for the Kurban Festival, when the mosque and square are packed with people. Natale was barred, while his photographer friend with a tourist visa was allowed in.

“In my view the important thing is that you get more freedom of movement with a tourist visa than with a J visa, a situation similar to that of other authoritarian countries like North Korea and Burma,” said Natale.

In a similar case the same week, an American journalist traveling with a British photographer managed to escape police notice several days in Kashgar by not using her passport, which contains a journalist visa, at the hotel. On the final day she was forced by a cancelled flight to stay an extra day and check into the International Hotel on her passport. Within 20 minutes of check-in, five men (two uniformed police, two without uniform and one from the local foreign affairs office) showed up at her hotel room demanding to know why she was in Kashgar and when she was leaving.

The officials left her room after the journalist repeatedly told them it was improper for five strange men to beat on a single woman’s door at 10pm, with no complaint that she had done anything wrong. The men went to the lobby, where they used a copy of her passport in the automated airline check-in system to check her in for the next day’s flight to Kashgar. The hotel night manager later admitted he had to call the police when he saw the journalist visa on her passport.

“They gave no reason for the disturbance, and seemed to back off when I told them I was calling the Foreign Ministry,” she said. “Yet it was clear this was standard practice when a journalist checks into a Kashgar hotel.”

The Japanese Kyodo news agency has reported that unidentified authorities in Beijing stormed the hotel room of three visiting journalists, beat them and damaged two computers. The agency says authorities stormed into the journalists’ room on Friday evening, kicked and beat the journalists about their heads, and forced them to kneel on the ground.

The incident occurred on a rehearsal day for the Oct. 1 military parade through central Beijing. More than a dozen FCCC members have reported receiving phone calls in recent weeks warning them not to photograph and/or interview people in or around Tiananmen Square in the weeks leading up to the anniversary. Several foreign news organizations were ordered not to film or photograph rehearsals, but no clear, written regulations have been issued by the Foreign Ministry and journalists have been given varying instructions.

Following is the text of Kyodo’s English news report:

BEIJING, Sept. 18 Kyodo – Chinese authorities assaulted three Kyodo News journalists in Beijing on Friday night when they were covering a rehearsal of a military parade the country will stage in the city on Oct. 1, the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
The authorities kicked one reporter and two cameramen and hit their heads to make them knee down at a room of Beijing Hotel, which faces Chang’an Avenue that runs east to west past the Tiananmen Square area where the National Day celebrations will be centered.
The authorities, who stormed into the room around 8 p.m. without notice, destroyed two computers by throwing them out of the room to the corridor.
China’s Foreign Ministry ordered news organizations not to take photos when the country conducted a rehearsal Sept. 6, but the ministry has not issued such an order since then.
Just as the previous rehearsal, tanks, armored vehicles and missile-carrying vehicles traveled the central Beijing in the Friday event.
It will be the first time for China to hold a military parade since 1999, when it celebrated the 50th anniversary of its founding.

“At around 3.30pm, we were interviewing Han Chinese protestors on Hongqi road. There were a few thousand protestors and about 1,000 paramilitary. At a road junction (police) had put up barricade. The protestors walked close. They were yelling slogans, calling for (Xinjiang Party Secretary Wang Lequan to quit.”
The police fired tear gas, and the situation grew chaotic.
“I was separated from my cameraman. He was holding his camera, filming. Five-six paramilitary went up to my colleague and grabbed him, pushing him to the ground. His hands were tied to his back with rope, along with the TVB cameraman and reporter. The three of them were pressed to the ground.
They told them they had their State Council press passes in their pockets, but the officers didn’t listen and continued to beat them. They were beaten on the head repeatedly, on the leg. Then, the three of them were taken to the police station and questioned.
Our camera was confiscated. When they returned the camera around 5.30pm, we realized they had taken our tape. An officer went up to my colleague to apologize for the incident. We asked for our tape back but they said they don’t know what happened to it. They let us go. ”