Journalist watchdog group: China intensifies press controls on domestic media in 2009

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Report: China increases media controls in 2009

BEIJING — China tried to increase control over its domestic media in 2009, issuing orders not to cover several topics including ethnic rioting in Xinjiang and corruption by government officials, an international press freedom group said.

In the report released Sunday by the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists, the group gave details on 62 specific orders issued to local media between January and November 2009 that illustrate the wide range of subjects deemed sensitive by the Chinese government.

Banned topics included sensitive anniversaries such as the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown and mass protests in western Xinjiang.

The orders detailed increased efforts by authorities since early 2009 to control online content and commentary, the 18-page report said in its assessment of restrictions faced by local and foreign journalists in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. Among the instructions:

— Domestic media organizations were ordered not to send journalists to Sichuan ahead of the one-year anniversary of the earthquake that left nearly 90,000 people dead or missing.

— Domestic media groups were told not to send reporters to western Xinjiang, where deadly ethnic riots left 200 dead. Instead, media outlets were told to use only official Xinhua News Agency reports.

— Domestic media groups were told not to report on former Premier Zhao Ziyang’s posthumously published memoirs.

— Domestic media were told not to report on corruption allegations in Namibia relating to a company formerly run by President Hu Jintao’s oldest son.

— Domestic media were told to use Xinhua reports on President Barack Obama’s visit to China, and delete news about a forum in Shanghai where he urged China to stop Internet censorship. Media were also ordered not to report on any protests or other “spontaneous news” during his visit.

— All domestic media, including Internet-based outlets, were ordered to write positively about the book “Unhappy China,” a nationalist anthem that bashed Western countries for allegedly victimizing China.

The IFJ said its list, compiled with the help of a Chinese human rights group, was not comprehensive. The orders were among hundreds issued by central and provincial governments throughout the past year.

“We further call on the international community to take a principled stand to oppose all forms of restrictions on the rights of journalists to do their work in China,” said IFJ General-Secretary Aidan White.