SCMP Journalist Detained After Reporting Riot at Huaxi Village

The April 17 edition of the South China Morning Post reported that Chinese public security officers detained one of its journalists as she tried to report on rioting in Zhejiang. According to the report, Chinese police stopped the reporter's car as she was attempting to leave Huaxi, the site of the riots. The police forced her to return to Dongyang, detained her in a hotel, and questioned her about why she was in Huaxi and whether she had applied for permission to come to Dongyang. She was then forced to sign a letter confessing that she had violated Chinese reporting regulations that require non-mainland journalists to apply for permission to travel anywhere outside Beijing. Chinese officials then confiscated the reporter's notes and photographs.