07 July 2008
HRW: Beijing still blocks media
(HRW) Beijing continues to block and threaten foreign journalists despite repeated promises to lift media freedom restrictions ahead of the Olympic Games, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a new report. The government has prohibited local Chinese-language media from publishing unflattering news ahead of the Games, leaving foreign media as the only source of factual reporting about a wide range of crucial issues in China. But systematic surveillance, obstruction, intimidation of sources, and pressure on local assistants are hobbling foreign correspondents' efforts to pursue investigative stories. The 71-page report, "China's Forbidden Zones: Shutting the Media out of Tibet and Other 'Sensitive' Stories", draws on more than 60 interviews with correspondents in China between December 2007 and June 2008.