China May 28, 2004

H.E. Hu Jintao
President
Office of the President
Zhonganahai
Beijing 100017
People@quot;s Republic of China

Your Excellency:

We write again to protest the continuing mistreatment and repression of journalists attempting to do their jobs in your country. As noted in our letter of May 3, China is the world@quot;s most notorious jailer of journalists, with 41 (to the best of our knowledge) detained at the end of 2003. Since then, there have been several cases in which China has again demonstrated its disdain for Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the clause that declares that “”Everyone has the right… to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.””

We were encouraged in March when your government released the Korean freelance photographer, Jae Hyun Seok, who had been serving a two-year sentence for “”human trafficking.”” But we were disappointed that the trumped-up charge was not dropped. His real offense was taking photos of North Korean refugees, an entirely legitimate activity.

On March 9, authorities in Beijing interrogated two reporters and a photographer from the Hong Kong Apple Daily , held them for six hours, and deported them to Hong Kong. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the reporters were surnamed Chan and Ho, and the photographer was not identified at all. No reason was given for the deportation, but the three were said not to have accreditation to report from China. Under Article 19, special accreditation should not be required. In the plainest of language, “”Everyone has the right”” to report.

On March 19, authorities in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province moved against three editors of Nanfang Dushi Bao , the aggressive regional newspaper known for its investigative reporting on social issues and wrong-doing by local officials. Yu Huafeng, deputy editor-in-chief and general manager, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on corruption charges. Li Minying, former editor, was sentenced to 11 years for bribery. Editor-in-chief Cheng Yizhong was arrested on the same day in Sichuan Province and has been charged with corruption. All these cases appear to be related to the routine distribution of bonuses to the newspaper@quot;s staff, a pretext for punishing independent journalism. As the legal scholar, He Weifang, of Beijing University has written, “”The courts are increasingly becoming a tool to suppress press freedom.””

On May 2, a freelance journalist, Liu Shui, was arrested and later sentenced to two years@quot; administrative detention in Shenzhen on charges of “”soliciting prostitution.”” However, a friend who was arrested with him was released, and it seems clear that Liu@quot;s real offense was writing a series of essays on political reform and posting them on the Internet.

On May 13, another Internet journalist, Yang Jianli, was sentenced to five years in prison for “”espionage”” and “”illegally entering Chinese territory.”” While it is true that Yang, who was expelled from China after taking part in the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in 1989, was using a friend@quot;s passport to re-visit the country, he was investigating industrial unrest in the northeast part of the country as a journalist, and according to Reporters Without Borders, there is no evidence that he was a spy.

Then on May 18, yet another Internet journalist, Du Daobin, went on trial in Xiaogan, Hubei Province, on subversion charges. The trial was called on such short notice that Du@quot;s lawyer, Mo Shaoping, was unable to get there. Li Zongyi was appointed by the court to represent Du, but only to argue for a lighter sentence, not to plead his innocence. Du, a prolific poster of commentary on Chinese social and political issues, had been under arrest since October, 2003.

Your Excellency, this record of repression of the free press speaks for itself. We can only repeat that China is forfeiting the good opinion of the world, and each new crack-down against courageous journalists makes it more difficult to gain recognition as a member of the free world community. We urge you to re-consider this policy.

Respectfully yours,

Larry Martz

 

Norman A. Schorr
Co-chairmen, Freedom of the Press Committee