New Regulations on Newspapers and Magazines Go Into Effect December 1

New rules governing the publication of newspapers and magazines in China went into effect on December 1. The General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) issued the Provisions on the Administration of Newspapers and Provisions on the Administration of Periodicals on September 30 to replace the Interim Provisions on the Administration of Newspapers (Interim Provisions) and the Interim Provisions on the Administration of Periodicals originally enacted in 1990 and 1988, respectively. According to a special section entitled Interim Provisions to Become History: Ten Key Words to Understanding the New Rules on Newspaper and Periodical Registration on the People's Daily Web site, the new Provisions are intended both to incorporate more recent government regulations on journalists and editors and editors-in-chief, as well as to address issues raised by China's increasingly market and profit driven newspaper publishing industry. The Provisions governing newspapers and magazines are similar in most material respects, so this update will focus on the former.

Under the Provisions, the government retains absolute control over who may publish a newspaper and who may work as a journalist or editor at a newspaper. The Provisions also define government content restrictions, and implement formal procedures to allow the government to monitor newspapers' contents and impose sanctions, including banning a publication and fining its operators, for violating those restrictions.

Controlling Who May Publish News Through Licensing

Anyone who attempts to publish a newspaper (or any publication) in China without a government license is subject to administrative sanctions under the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing including fines, confiscation, and closure. Unlicensed publishers are also subject to criminal liability under Article 225 of the Criminal Law and the Supreme People's Court's 1998 Explanation Regarding Certain Questions About the Specific Laws to be Used in Adjudicating Criminal Cases of Illegal Publications, which can include fines, confiscation, closure, and imprisonment.

The Provisions govern all "newspaper publishing activities conducted in the territory of the People's Republic of China," and (based on a combined reading of Articles 2 and 67) defines a "newspaper" as any publication with a permanent name and a fixed format and number of issues. Only government licensed "newspaper publishing work units" may publish newspapers. To obtain a license, a work unit must have a government recognized "supervising work unit" and "sponsoring work unit." Under the Provisions, the GAPP controls the total number, structure, and distribution of newspaper publishing work units nationwide, and carries out "supervision and management" of newspaper publication throughout China. The Provisions also restrict the right to publish newspapers to those who are able to secure at least 300,000 yuan (about US$35,000) in registered capital.

Controlling Who May Gather News Through Accreditation

In January 2004, the Chinese government began issuing a national journalist "accreditation card" and maintaining a database of government-accredited journalists, as well as individuals whose journalistic credentials had expired or been revoked. Shi Feng, the GAPP deputy director, recently summed up the Party's reason for implementing formal government accreditation requirements in an October speech to the National Newspaper and Magazine Administration Work Meeting (via the People's Daily Web site) and again in an article in the November edition of "Media" magazine (via the Xinhua Web site), saying: "to control affairs it is necessary to first control people" [guanzhu shi bi xian guanzhu ren].

The Provisions state that newspapers must "adopt a system of editor's responsibility to ensure that the contents of newspapers conform to the provisions of the state laws and regulations." In addition to mandating that all journalists and editors must "meet the occupational requirements for press publication prescribed by the state," the Provisions also require each newspaper's director general and editor-in-chief to take part in "occupational training" conducted by the GAPP and pass an examination before assuming their duties. The Provisions require all editors and journalists to hold a government issued "accreditation card," and implement a "real name" system whereby newspapers may not publish articles either anonymously or using a nom de plume.

Controlling Content Through Monitoring

In October 2005, the People's Daily Web site published a special section entitled Administering Newspapers and Periodicals - From Looking at Each Tree to Managing the Forest which outlined "big problems" that the Provisions were intended to address. Half of the "problems" listed related to the content of China's newspapers, including "denying the leading position of Marxism," "departing from the Party's line," "capriciously publishing irresponsible debates on the Party's leaders and the nation's policies," and "failing to ask for instructions before publishing critical reports that might have a major impact on society."

The Provisions have dropped the Interim Provision's statement that China's newspapers "constitute an important part of the Communist Party's socialist news enterprise," as well as its requirement that newspaper "propagate the path and policies of the Chinese Communist Party." They retain, however, the requirement that newspapers must "adhere to Marxism-Leninism," and include new language requiring newspapers to "follow correct guidelines of public opinion and publication orientation and persist in the principle of giving first priority to social benefits, achieving a combination of social benefits and economic returns, leaning close to practice, the masses and life, and fostering a good atmosphere for building socialism with Chinese characteristics and enriching the cultural life of the broad masses of the people."

The Provisions have also dropped the Interim Provisions' list of prohibited content, and instead incorporate by reference the list included in the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing. That list includes vaguely worded prohibitions on content that "jeopardizes the integrity of the nation's unity," "harms the honor or the interests of the nation," "propagates evil cults or superstitions," or "disturbs social order or disrupts social stability." The Provisions also require that newspapers must obey unspecified "relevant regulations" when "carrying or reprinting contents with relation to the important state policies, national and religious affairs, diplomacy, military, and secrecy of the state."

The Provisions establish a post-publication content screening system (referred to as a "re-reading system" in the government's translation), and an annual review system under which each newspaper's supervising work unit, as well as the GAPP and its provincial level offices, are responsible for reviewing the contents of China's newspapers. The Provisions require provincial level GAPP offices to conduct annual "verification and examination" reviews of newspapers in their respective jurisdictions, and report their results to the GAPP, and each supervising work unit and provincial level GAPP office must submit regular written reports to the GAPP. The Provision states that publishing, printing, and distribution enterprises may not provide services to any newspaper unless it has passed the previous year's inspection. The Provisions also require each newspaper to establish its own "reading and assessment system," and submit regular reports to the GAPP, and once a year each newspaper publisher must also submit a "self-examination report" and copies of its 30 most recently published editions to the GAPP branch office in its jurisdiction.

The Provisions require the GAPP to conduct "assessments" of newspapers' "publishing quality," and empower it to take the following actions with respect to a newspaper whose contents it deems incorrect or in violation of regulations:

• order the newspaper to print retractions or corrections;
• order the newspaper to cease publication and distribution;
• order the newspaper to retract entire editions;
• order the supervising and sponsoring work units to "rectify" the newspaper publisher;
• revoke the newspaper's publishing license.

See below for additional analysis.
 

Differences Between the Provisions and Other News Reporting Regulations

The State Council Information Office and the Ministry of Information Industry promulgated the Rules on the Administration of Internet News Information Services (Internet News Rules) on September 25, 2005, just five days before the GAPP promulgated the Provisions. The Internet News Rules tightened the government's control over online news services by prohibiting anyone from using the Internet to post or transmit news reports or commentary relating to politics, economics, and military, foreign, and public affairs without prior government authorization. Despite being issued in the same week and dealing with the same general topic matter, there are differences between the Internet News Rules and the Provisions that are worth noting:

• The Internet News Rules define news as "reporting and commentary relating to politics, economics, military affairs, foreign affairs, and social and public affairs, as well as reporting and commentary relating to fast-breaking social events." The Provisions do not define news at all, but do state that newspapers must "abide by relative regulations when carrying or reprinting contents with relation to the important state policies, national and religious affairs, diplomacy, military, and secrecy of the state." The Provisions do not say what the "relative regulations" are.
• The Internet News Rules include prohibitions on contents "inciting illegal assemblies, associations, marches, demonstrations, or gatherings that disturb social order," and "conducting activities in the name of an illegal civil organization." No previous regulations included any similar prohibition. Because the Provisions derive their list of forbidden content from the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing, they do not include these prohibitions relating to assembly, either. Nor do they follow the precedent that the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television set in its May 2005 Circular Regarding Calling for Resolutely Strengthening and Improving Radio and Television Public Opinion Supervision Work, which mandated government screening for radio and television programs that "easily trigger mass incidents." It is not clear whether these inconsistencies represent a lack of coordination between the issuing agencies, or a recognition on the part of Chinese authorities that the Internet is more difficult than print and broadcast media for them to screen, and represents a more effective means for people to form groups and organize assemblies that the government would prefer not take place.