The government under President Xi Jinping has taken an increasingly hard line on controlling information within the country as its traditional means of doing so come under threat from social media and mobile Internet messaging services.
Although foreign media reports are aimed mostly at audiences outside China, the moves against international journalists reflect both wariness of their reports seeping into the domestic audience and sensitivity about the country’s reputation abroad. This is especially so following reports in recent years about the wealth accumulated by relatives of top Communist Party leaders.
‘International coverage is no longer simply damaging to China’s international image,’ said David Bandurski, a researcher with the University of Hong Kong’s China Media Project. ‘It’s also damaging to China’s domestic image of the ruling party.’
China last week blocked access on the mainland to the websites of several European and North American news outlets that participated in or carried reports of an investigation that showed the relatives of China’s president and other business and political leaders were linked to offshore tax havens. In the past week, police and plainclothes security officers harassed reporters in Beijing who staked out courthouses where grassroots activists of the New Citizens movement were on trial, pushing them away from the buildings and confiscating press cards.
Although foreign media reports are aimed mostly at audiences outside China, the moves against international journalists reflect both wariness of their reports seeping into the domestic audience and sensitivity about the country’s reputation abroad. This is especially so following reports in recent years about the wealth accumulated by relatives of top Communist Party leaders.
‘International coverage is no longer simply damaging to China’s international image,’ said David Bandurski, a researcher with the University of Hong Kong’s China Media Project. ‘It’s also damaging to China’s domestic image of the ruling party.’
China last week blocked access on the mainland to the websites of several European and North American news outlets that participated in or carried reports of an investigation that showed the relatives of China’s president and other business and political leaders were linked to offshore tax havens. In the past week, police and plainclothes security officers harassed reporters in Beijing who staked out courthouses where grassroots activists of the New Citizens movement were on trial, pushing them away from the buildings and confiscating press cards.