Tag: Press freedom

Hong Kong Judges Propose Further Delay in Trial of Activist Publisher Jimmy Lai

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Hong Kong judges on Friday proposed a new delay until December in the trial of a prominent activist publisher who was arrested in August 2020 under a sweeping Beijing-imposed national security law. Jimmy Lai, the 75-year-old founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, faces up to life in prison if convicted under the law. He has already been sentenced to five years and nine months in a separate case. His trial, originally scheduled to begin last December, had already been delayed by judges until September while the Hong Kong…

AP Gets Rare Glimpse of Jailed Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Publisher Jimmy Lai

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HONG KONG —  Jimmy Lai, a former newspaper publisher and one of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy activists, spends around 23 hours a day in solitary confinement in a maximum-security facility while he awaits a trial that could send him to prison for life. In exclusive photos taken by The Associated Press in recent weeks, the 75-year-old Lai can be seen with a book in his hands wearing shorts and sandals and accompanied by two guards at Stanley Prison. He looks thinner than when he was last photographed in February…

Australia PM Urges China to Free Jailed Journalist

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called on Saturday for China to release jailed Australian journalist Cheng Lei, saying he was worried about her condition after three years behind bars. Cheng has described her bleak prison conditions in a note dictated a note to Australian officials from her cell, saying she misses trees and sunlight but “most of all I miss my children.” The message was shared with Australian news outlets and on the social media platform X by Cheng’s partner, Nick Coyle, on Thursday. Asked if he was concerned about her…

‘Love Letter’ from Australian Journalist Jailed in China

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washington —  Cheng Lei, the Australian journalist who this Sunday will mark three years of detention in China, says she misses the sun. “In my cell, the sunlight shines through the window, but I can stand in it for only 10 hours a year,” Cheng Lei said in an open letter to the people of Australia, dictated to diplomats who are able to speak to her each month and released by her partner. “I miss the sun.” The letter is the first time Cheng has spoken publicly since she was…

Solomon Islands newspaper pledged to promote ‘truth about China’s generosity’ in return for funding

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Local media in Solomon Islands have been accused of compromising their independence by entering into agreements with Chinese news organisations and accepting thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment from the Chinese embassy. Since the Solomon Islands government signed a high-profile security agreement with China in March 2022, some newspapers in the Pacific country have received cars, cameras, phones and printing machinery that costs thousands of dollars from the Chinese government, via its local embassy, according to local journalists. Some have raised concern about the gifts and the continued close dialogue…

Japanese Journalist Barred From Entering Hong Kong Without Clear Reason: Report

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HONG KONG —  A Japanese journalist was barred from entering Hong Kong without a clear reason and was sent back to his country, a Japanese newspaper said, raising concerns over the city’s shrinking press freedoms. The Japan Times, a prominent English-language newspaper, reported Friday that a freelance journalist was taken by officials to a room after arriving at the city’s airport Thursday evening. Yoshiaki Ogawa, known for his coverage in the financial hub, was later interviewed for around an hour, it said. Ogawa said officials only told him that he…

Citizens’ Radio Closes Because of Hong Kong’s National Security Law 

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BANGKOK – A Hong Kong radio station shut down Friday, citing the city’s “dangerous” political situation. Citizens’ Radio, a Cantonese-language station, said it was forced to close after officials blocked it from accessing funds via crowdsourcing and donations. The closure came on the third anniversary of Hong Kong’s enactment of its national security law, which roughly a dozen other media outlets have cited for their decisions to close since 2020. Separately, Hong Kong officials denied entry to a freelance journalist from Japan. The journalist, Yoshiaki Ogawa, was cited in media…

Expansions to China’s Espionage Law Create Anxiety for Foreign Media  

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WASHINGTON – Amendments to China’s counterespionage law that take effect Saturday could create even more challenges for foreign correspondents reporting inside the country, journalists and media analysts say. Passed in April, the revisions broaden the definition of espionage and ban the transfer of any information deemed related to national security. Some foreign journalists based in China say they are anxiously waiting to see how the changes will affect their work, with press freedom analysts predicting the revisions will make news gathering more difficult. “Quite a few of us are worried…

From Fear to Freedom: A Uyghur’s Journey

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For decades, Kasim Kashgar has lived in fear: first as a Uyghur living in China’s Xinjiang region under Beijing’s repressive policies, and later as an exile, acutely aware that speaking out could put his family in China at risk. As a journalist covering Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities for VOA News, Kasim wrote under a pen name. In 2023, the year his asylum was granted, he decided to speak out. This is his story. Voice of America