The Wall Street Journal, 23 August 2012

Three associations of foreign journalists in China took the unusual step this week of issuing a joint statement of concern at a recent spate of violent incidents involving their members. Police beat up a Japanese reporter for the Asahi newspaper in Nantong last month and took his equipment. On August 10, police assaulted a Hong Kong television reporter in Hefei. The next day, a mob attacked a German television crew in Henan province.

Most of the time, Chinese authorities confine themselves to harassment and light man-handling to prevent reporters from covering a story. Beatings usually come when reporters cover sensitive topics such as dissidents, social unrest and the state security apparatus itself, such as the so-called “black jails” where petitioners are illegally detained. In February of last year when online messages called for street protests, police in Beijing dragged Bloomberg reporter Stephen Engle into an alley, punched him in the head and beat him with a broom handle.

Most times the attacks leave no permanent damage, but that is not always the case. ABC News reporter Todd Carrel was beaten so badly in Tiananmen Square on the third anniversary of the 1989 protests that his spine was damaged and he is still disabled.

The Chinese government has not responded to the journalists’ protest letter. But the state-run Global Times did publish a report on Wednesday refuting the idea that foreign reporters are being targeted. A Shanghai photojournalist noted that “Chinese journalists often face a worse situation than their foreign counterparts.”

That is certainly true, and the rising number of attacks on local journalists deserves more attention. But foreign governments can more easily take action to improve treatment of their nationals working as reporters in China. Visas and accreditation for Chinese state-run media workers to enter other countries should be contingent on an end to state-sponsored thuggery.

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