Freedom of Expression

Public security officers in Henan and Guangdong provinces detained two foreign journalists to prevent them from reporting on politically sensitive stories. The first incident occurred December 7 near Shanwei in Guangdong province, when a reporter from Hong Kong's TVB tried to enter Dongzhoukeng village to investigate reports of clashes between local residents and the government over property rights, according to a December 8 Radio Free Asia report. Chinese authorities detained the reporter, forced him to write a self-criticism, and would not allow him to enter the township.

Shi Feng, a Deputy Director of the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), described the position of the government and Communist Party on state control over newspapers and periodicals in an October speech to the National Newspaper and Magazine Administration Work Meeting (via the People's Daily Web site). Shi's remarks came a month after the GAPP issued new regulations governing newspaper and periodical publishing in China in September. Deputy Director Shi's views were published again in an article in the November edition of "Media" magazine (via the Xinhua Web site).

Over the past several weeks, Chinese authorities have continued what appears to be a crackdown on free expression by detaining or imprisoning at least five more prominent intellectuals and activists.

The following is a partial translation by CECC staff of the text of a speech by Liu Yunshan, who is a member of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee Political Bureau, Secretary of the Secretariat, and director of the Communist Party Central Propaganda Department which he gave at the National Propaganda Department Director's Meeting on December 18, 2004, and which was subsequently reprinted under the title "Conscientiously Implement the Completion of the Government's Overall Plan for Solid Propaganda Ideology Work" in the January 2005 edition of "Party Building" magazine, as well as on the People's Daily Web site on January 20, 2005.

3. Embrace the establishment and fulfillment of a scientific development perspective, put forth an effort to create a public opinion atmosphere that is beneficial to stable reform and development. . . . .

According to an August 31 New York Times article, arrested Times researcher Zhao Yan is forbidden from seeing his family, has lost 22 pounds, and has requested a biopsy because of concern for lumps on his skin. The Ministry of State Security (MSS) not only denied the biopsy request, but also has denied Zhao's lawyer's efforts to post bail. The Times commented: "But even as China's authoritarian leaders now promise a more impartial legal system to their citizens and the multinational corporations that do business here, they continue to use the loosely defined state secrets law to single out political enemies and prevent journalists from prying into the inner workings of the top leadership of the ruling Communist Party."