2023-05-05 06:46:48
WASHINGTON (AP) — China was the country with the most jailed journalists last year, with more than 100 behind bars, according to a press freedom advocacy group, as the government of President Xi Jinping tightens control over society.
Beijing was also one of the biggest exporters of propaganda content, Reporters Without Borders said. China ranks penultimate in the group’s annual press freedom index, behind only neighboring North Korea.
The ruling Communist Party has tightened already strict controls over the media in China, where all newspapers and broadcasters are state-owned. The web and social networks are obliged to apply censorship that prohibits material that might propagate opposition to the one-party regime.
In a meeting with journalists who had been recognized with official awards in 2016, Xi, the country’s most powerful ruler in decades, called for them to adhere to “the correct orientation of public opinion.”
The president is carrying out a “crusade once morest journalism,” Reporters Without Borders said in a report on Wednesday, calling the decline in press freedom in the country “disastrous.”
Beijing applies what is considered the world’s most extensive system of internet controls. Its filters try to block the Chinese public from viewing foreign websites run by media, governments, and human rights groups and activists.
Chinese reporters have been indicted on charges of espionage, leaking national secrets and provocation, a vague charge used to jail dissidents. Others are subject to surveillance, intimidation and harassment.
Journalist Dong Yuyu, who worked for a daily affiliated with the ruling party and received a scholarship from Harvard University, faces espionage charges following more than a year in detention, his family said last week.
In 2022, Chinese-Australian reporter Cheng Lei stood trial in China on national security-related charges, but the verdict is still unknown, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in March.
Cheng worked for CGTN, the English-language state television channel, aimed at foreign audiences. She was arrested in August 2019 accused of sharing state secrets.
In Hong Kong, the Communist Party forced a prominent newspaper, Apple Daily, to shut down as part of a crackdown on pro-democracy sentiment.
Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai received a conviction for fraud last year that his followers say was politically motivated. Six other former executives at the outlet have pleaded guilty.
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