The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China is appalled by the decision of the Chinese government to take this action.

Chinese officials had expressed anger at a documentary the channel aired last November. Melissa Chan did not even play a part in making that documentary. They have also expressed unhappiness with the general editorial content on Al Jazeera English and accused Ms Chan of violating rules and regulations that they have not specified.

This is the most extreme example of a recent pattern of using journalist visas in an attempt to censor and intimidate foreign correspondents in China (see details below*).

The FCCC believes that foreign news organisations, not the Chinese government, have the right to choose who works for them in China, in line with international standards.

Melissa’s expulsion followed 3 months of uncertainty during which time she was issued short term press credentials rather than the standard one-year accreditation. When her final one-month accreditation was not renewed she was obliged to leave the country because reporters are not issued Chinese residence permits without such accreditation.

Melissa Chan is a member of the FCCC board.

The FCCC views this matter as a grave threat to foreign reporters’ ability to work in China.

For further details on this matter please contact fcccadmin@gmail.com.

*At the end of last year an FCCC survey (with additional research) found the following regarding visas for foreign correspondents in China:

• Over the past two years 27 foreign reporters were made to wait for more than four months for visa approvals. Thirteen of these had to wait for more than six months and were still waiting at the time of the survey.
• Three requests presented in 2009 had not received a response, which in practice meant they had been denied.
• Twenty eight permanent postings or reporting trips had been cancelled since 2009 because applications for the required journalistic visas were rejected or ignored by the Chinese authorities.
• In six cases foreign reporters say they were told by the Foreign Ministry officials that their bureaux’ visa applications had been rejected or put on hold due to the content of the bureaux’ or the applicant’s previous coverage of Chinese affairs.

Journalists around the world should be allowed to work unimpeded in order to report accurately and comprehensively.

A new FCCC survey about reporting access to Tibet found 86 percent of respondents said it is not currently possible to report accurately and comprehensively on Tibet. Respondents listed travel restrictions and the reluctance of sources to speak freely as the top reasons.

Among  the 35 applications submitted by survey respondents for independent reporting trips to the Tibet Autonomous Region in the past two years, only four have been approved.

Critics of the international media in China fault alleged superficial reporting about Tibet but, at the same time, reporters are denied opportunities to work unhampered there.

For detailed survey data and journalists’ comments, please read the attached PDF file.

This week, an FCCC member working for German television reported that police in Beijing threatened and intimidated her Chinese assistant after, on her direction, he videotaped at a migrant school slated for demolition. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident.

In the latest survey of FCCC members, conducted in May, many correspondents reported their Chinese employees have been coming under increased pressure from the government. Out of the 65 correspodents who replied to a survey question about Chinese news assistants, 37 percent said their Chinese employees had been harassed, pressured or intimated at least once in the past year, while another 12 percent said this had happened three or more times.

We believe that as reporting conditions and regulations in China have continued to improve, so too should the conditions for Chinese citizens working in foreign news bureaus. These employees are important to our work here and their protection is in keeping with accepted international reporting practices.

The FCCC Board

Following the prepared statements, there was no chance for reporters attending the event to ask questions, which would have highlighted what Obama told college students in Shanghai earlier in the week about the benefits to society of freedom of expression.

“This was an historic meeting between the two leaders, and journalists should have had the opportunity to ask questions, to probe beyond the statements,” said FCCC President Scott McDonald.

The FCCC also urges international media organizations attending the World Media Summit in Beijing to press China to keep its word on reporting rights and freedoms for foreign correspondents.

The FCCC still receives regular reports of interference, harassment and violence against journalists as they do their work. Most recently, a lack of transparency interfered with proper planning and coverage of the Oct. 1 National Day parade, with several journalists reporting interference while trying to cover the ceremony.

“President Hu’s comments are a step in the right direction,” said FCCC President Scott McDonald. “But implementation is crucial. It has been far too patchy in the past.”

The FCCC calls for further action to bring China’s laws and regulations into accordance with international norms — notably regarding limits on state secrecy, protection of sources, freedom of expression on the internet and provisions for independent journalists’ organizations.

In the future, for such large events, the FCCC calls on the Chinese authorities to provide better coordination, earlier information and a more transparent allocation of passes, all of which would be in keeping with normal international practices and China’s pledges of openness toward the media.

According to Kyodo, the three journalists were attacked, hit and pushed to the ground on the evening of Sept. 18. Some of their equipment was also damaged.

The three were covering a rehearsal for the Oct. 1 National Day parade, an event carried out on Beijing’s biggest street in front of thousands of people.

In recent weeks, many Beijing-based journalists have been verbally warned by the authorities not to film the preparations or to open windows overlooking the parades. The legal basis for these warnings has not been made clear.

The FCCC calls on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to clarify, in writing, any rules it has regarding coverage of these events.

“This attack is a step backward in China’s efforts to open up the reporting environment. We urge restraint on the part of authorities, who must follow China’s own rules allowing foreign journalists to report freely,” said FCCC President Scott McDonald.