Detention Incidents

Foreign correspondents detained or harrassed while reporting

28 August 2006, Liaoning Province: Italian sports journalist Francesco Liello of La Gazetta dello Sport was detained in Anshan, Liaoning Province. He was trying to report on a "collective doping" scandal reported earlier by domestic Chinese media. He was unable to find the new headmaster, whom he wanted to interview, and was detained while photographing an empty running track. Liello, a member of the FCCC board, was taken to a police station, was told he'd violated the law because he was trying to report without permission, and was compelled to delete about 20 photos from his digital camera. Local officials who'd apprehended him said he would not have been detained if he had "acted like a tourist" and had not identified himself as a journalist. After signing a "confession" he was told to return to Beijing immediately.

16 August 2006, Guangdong Province: Malaysian journalist Leu Siew Ying, who works for the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, was detained by police in Panyu district, Guangzhou, for eight hours while she was attempting to cover the one-year anniversary of disturbances in Taishi village. Her mobile phone was taken away so she could not call for assistance as the detention dragged on. She was threatened with a strip search, accused of disturbing public order and forced to sign a statement admitting that she had violated immigration rules because she did not carry her passport (although she had her press card as ID).

July 2006, Inner Mongolia: American journalist Jim Yardley, who works for The New York Times, visited a village in Inner Mongolia to ask residents about a recent pollution spill. Local factories and government officials had deliberately dumped chemical waste into the village rather than risk a spill into the nearby Yellow River. Residents had warned that police and thugs from the factories were trying to prevent reporters from visiting the village. The Times' car was pursued out of the village by a sedan without license plates. The sedan followed for more than a mile and then tried to force the Times' vehicle to the side of the road, honking and making an effort at sideswiping. The Times' vehicle managed to escape on a highway. However, an hour later, at a police checkpoint, the Times' car was surrounded by about a dozen police officers, including a SWAT vehicle. The driver of the Times' vehicle was detained for about three hours and questioned. Police then allowed the Times' vehicle to leave.