A March 1 report by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in China (FCCC) shows a deterioration in press freedom on the mainland, and on March 2, a reporter asked a question about the freedom of foreign journalists to report during the Winter Olympics, to which Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin did not respond.
At a March 2 press conference at the Foreign Ministry, a German TV reporter asked how China would ensure the freedom of foreign journalists to report in China, given that the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in China (FCCC) has just released a report on the decline in freedom of foreign journalists and that China will soon host the Beijing Winter Olympics, when a large number of foreign journalists are expected to come to China to report.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, in his usual tone, denied and denounced the allegations made by the FCCC, but did not answer the question “How will China guarantee the freedom of journalists to report on the Winter Olympics in China”, nor did he make any commitment to “free reporting”. The official statement about the Winter Olympics was only repeated in the section about “smooth progress”.
The FCCC report mentioned by the German TV reporter was released on March 1, based on a survey of 150 journalists from 30 countries and regions and interviews with news agency directors.
The report also mentions the Winter Olympics. The report said, “The deteriorating relationship between the Communist government and foreign media also casts a shadow over the 2022 Winter Olympics, as freedom of expression in mainland China is rapidly declining, in stark contrast to the Olympic values of ‘excellence, respect and friendship’. “
Despite official statements that journalists from around the world are “very welcome,” the report said, the Communist Party uses subtle tactics to prevent journalists from working. For example, journalists are not restricted from traveling to the sensitive Xinjiang region, but it is impossible to work there freely.
Recently, the international community has been increasingly vocal in boycotting the Beijing Winter Olympics. Australian Senator Rex Patrick has called on the Australian government to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics; former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Republican Congressmen John Katko and Michael Waltz have called on the U.S. government to boycott the Beijing Olympics; and several U.S. lawmakers and human rights groups have called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to pull the 2022 Winter Olympics from China.
The FCCC report also mentions that “all of China’s (CCP) state apparatus, including its Epidemic-control surveillance system, has been used to harass and intimidate foreign journalists, their Chinese colleagues, and interviewees.” Foreign journalists covering in Wuhan were harassed by police and forced to delete their interviews, and CCP threats also included deportation, visa restrictions and bans on leaving the country.
The CCP expelled at least 18 foreign journalists in 2020, including the Australian correspondent in China, who was “zeroed out”. This comes after many foreign journalists had their visas reduced to less than a year in 2019, some for six months and some for three months.
According to the 2020 annual report of the New York-based nonprofit Committee to Protect Journalists, China continues to be the country with the largest number of journalists in prison, with 47 journalists imprisoned, many with long prison sentences, or in Xinjiang without any public charges.
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