European broadcasters condemn Chinese ‘intimidation’ of media
GENEVA: The European Broadcasting Union on Monday condemned the “intolerable” intimidation of news crews in China reporting on the rare protests that have broken out across the country. “The EBU condemns in the strongest terms the intolerable intimidation and aggression directed against EBU member journalists and production crews in China,” the world’s biggest public service media alliance said in a statement. The Geneva-based union said the situation in China was becoming increasingly volatile.
Seeking political freedoms and an end to COVID19 lockdowns, people have taken to the streets in
major cities and gathered at university campuses across China in a wave of protests not seen since prodemocracy rallies in 1989 were crushed. The BBC said one of its journalists was arrested while covering Covid protests in Shanghai and beaten by police while being held.
A journalist for the Swiss broadcaster RTS was harassed while reporting live, while other EBU member journalists have been threatened and some prevented from filming or going on air, the alliance said. “The aggression and intimidation of journalists by police and other authorities in China is unacceptable and these latest incidents mark a new low,” said Liz Corbin, the EBU’s head of news.
She said EBU members played a critical role in providing the public with trusted news and information, “yet the authorities in China have made it increasingly difficult for reporting teams to operate there. We urgently call on the Chinese authorities to respect the
rights of EBU member journalists who live and work in China to help foreign audiences better understand what is happening there,” she said.
The campaign group Reporters Without Borders has also condemned what happened to the BBC’s journalist. Eric Scherer, who chairs the EBU’s news committee, voiced its “dismay” at the “unjustified arrests of several foreign journalists, officially accredited to work in China, during the course of their work”. “We hope to receive an official explanation of these disturbing incidents from the appropriate authorities, in order to understand how we can continue to guarantee safe working conditions for journalists based in China,” he said.
Founded in 1950, the EBU has 112 member organizations in 56 countries, plus 31 associates in Asia, Africa and the Americas. Together they reach an audience of more than one billion people, broadcasting in 153 languages. — AFP