Tag: Press freedom

Advocates for jailed publisher Lai turn to Trump administration

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WASHINGTON —  The son of imprisoned pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai this week brought the campaign to secure his father’s release to the Trump administration in Washington. Nearly two months into President Donald Trump’s second term, Lai’s son Sebastien and their international legal team were in Washington this week to meet with Trump administration officials and lawmakers in hopes that the United States can help push for Lai’s release. Lai, a businessman and founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper in Hong Kong, stands accused of collusion with foreign forces and…

TikTok raises free speech concerns on bill passed by US House that may ban app 

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Washington —  TikTok on Sunday raised free speech concerns about a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that would ban the popular social media app in the U.S. if its Chinese owner ByteDance did not sell its stake within a year. The House passed the legislation on Saturday by a margin of 360 to 58. It now moves to the Senate where it could be taken up for a vote in the coming days. President Joe Biden has previously said he will sign the legislation. The step to…

Soap operas censored in China for spreading ‘unhealthy family values’

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China’s movie regulators are rolling out new regulations on minute-long soap operas, a new genre that became popular in China during COVID-19 pandemic but which has been accused of spreading “incorrect values.” Designed for shorter attention spans during the internet age, these mini-soap operas aim to get people watching videos on their phones hooked as quickly as possible. Starting June 1, the soap operas must be registered and reviewed before they can go online. Key minute-long soap operas — those with investment of around $138,000 (1 million RMB) — must…

Sweden expels Chinese journalist, calling her threat to national security, report says

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Copenhagen, Denmark —  Sweden has expelled a Chinese journalist, saying the reporter was a threat to national security, Swedish media reported on Monday. The journalist, an unnamed, 57-year-old woman, was arrested by the Swedish security service in October and expelled by the government in Stockholm last week, Swedish broadcaster SVT reported. She is banned from returning. The woman arrived in the Scandinavian country some 20 years ago. She held a residence permit and was married to a Swedish man, with whom she has children, according to the broadcaster. The woman…

RFA Departs Hong Kong, Citing Press Freedom Concerns

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WASHINGTON —  After nearly three decades in Hong Kong, VOA’s sister outlet Radio Free Asia has closed its physical bureau in the city and no longer has full-time staff there due to the declining press freedom landscape, the outlet announced in a statement Friday. “Concerns about the safety of RFA staff and reporters in Hong Kong have led us to restructure our on-the-ground operations there. While RFA will retain its official media registration, at this time we no longer have full-time personnel in Hong Kong and have closed our physical…

How Taiwan Breaches Censors’ Barriers

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Breaking the barriers of censorship in China, Myanmar and North Korea is a daunting task, as these countries have built almost impenetrable firewalls against outside news and information. But Radio Taiwan International is successfully using shortwave radio to break through. “We potentially have 70 million to 1.2 billion listeners who rely on shortwave to get information [from] outside of their country,” said Isis Lee, RTI’s vice president. On the air since 1928, RTI say their mission is to bring listeners stories they won’t or can’t hear or see on television,…

Witness in Jimmy Lai Trial Mistreated in Custody, Experts Say

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A key prosecution witness in the trial of Hong Kong pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai took the stand this week despite concerns raised by U.N. officials that the witness may have been mistreated in custody. Andy Li, a computer programmer who became a pro-democracy activist in 2019, gave evidence against Lai on Wednesday. Li’s testimony pertained to his role in a crowdfunding campaign that supported Hong Kong’s 2019 pro-democracy protests. Prosecutors have alleged that Lai, a British national, masterminded the crowdfunding campaign. The 76-year-old is accused of “collusion with foreign forces”…

Chinese state media body condemns police harassment at site of deadly blast

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China’s journalist association has issued a rare rebuke over police harassment, after videos emerged of state media journalists being pushed away from the site of a deadly explosion. In a statement published on Wednesday evening, the All-China Journalists Association (AJCA), a Communist party-backed group, said that “legitimate interviews are a journalist’s right”, adding that the authorities “should not simply and brutally obstruct the media journalists from performing their duties in a normal manner in order to control public opinion”. The unusually forthright comments came after videos emerged of two state…

Can Journalism Survive in Hong Kong?

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Hong Kong —  In a newsroom, editors tell reporters to not touch politically sensitive stories. Reporters are told to put stories on hold until China’s foreign ministry comes out with its statement. Terminology that the government might frown upon is banned from news copy. Such is the state of journalism, not just in China, but increasingly in Hong Kong, after a national security law was adopted by Beijing for the former British colony in 2020, according to local journalists. “Sometimes we don’t feel like we’re journalists. We’re simply a part…

China Expands Media Influence in Indonesia

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Jakarta, Indonesia —  From all-expenses paid trips to cover China’s Belt and Road summit to content-sharing agreements with major media outlets, Beijing is investing in ways to share its narrative with Indonesian audiences, analysts say. One of the biggest deals came in November, when the Indonesian network Metro TV signed an agreement with China Media Group to expand content for Metro TV’s flagship Mandarin-language news program, “Metro XinWen.” The broadcaster joins the ranks of The Jakarta Post, which reposts content from the China Daily, and Indonesia’s news agency, Antara, which…