Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has staged parallel protests outside the Chinese embassies in Paris and Berlin, holding funeral-style processions to denounce the “killing” of Apple Daily by the Hong Kong government, and to raise alarm of the threats posed by the Beijing regime to press freedom globally.

Arriving at the Chinese embassy following a hearse, RSF representatives in Paris staged a mock funeral procession, delivering a coffin and funeral flowers with a placard inscribed “Apple Daily (1995-2021).”

In Berlin, RSF representatives staged a parallel action, “burying” the daily newspaper which was one of the last major independent Chinese-language media critical of the Beijing regime.

Two days prior, Apple Daily announced that it must cease all operations from June 27, with the last print edition of its newspaper to be published on June 24, due to the government’s decision to freeze its financial assets, leaving the media outlet unable to pay their employees and suppliers, reports RSF in a statement.

RSF condemns the killing of the outlet perpetrated by Chief Executive Carrie Lam by order of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and calls for the immediate release of all detained Apple Daily employees as well as the media outlet’s founder Jimmy Lai, RSF 2020 Press Freedom Prize laureate.

“We have gathered today to raise alarm about the urgent risk of death to press freedom in Hong Kong,” RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire told reporters gathered outside the Chinese embassy in Paris.

“Democracies cannot continue to stand idly by while the Chinese regime systematically erodes what’s left of the country’s independent media, as it has already done in the rest of the country.

International community ‘must act’
“Today’s funeral is for Apple Daily, but tomorrow’s may be for press freedom in China. It’s time for the international community to act in line with their own values and obligations and defend what’s left of the free press in Hong Kong, before China’s model of information control claims another victim.”

Deloire also called out China’s Ambassador to France Lu Shaye, who last week gave an interview labelling media critical of the Chinese regime a “media machine” and journalists criticising Chinese authorities as “mad hyenas”.

Lu Shaye believes there is no need for a plurality of media: “With two or three groups and a few people, we can become the vanguard of the war of public opinion and we can coordinate this war well.”

Lu Shaye has previously been critical of French media, stating last year at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemics: “I’m not saying the French media always tell lies about China, but much of their reporting on China is not true.”

Earlier this week, RSF submitted an urgent appeal asking the UN to “take all necessary measures” to safeguard press freedom in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong, once a bastion of press freedom, has fallen from 18th place in 2002 to 80th place in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index.

The People’s Republic of China, for its part, has stagnated at 177th out of 180.

Pacific Media Watch works in association with Reporters Without Borders.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Brisbane-based Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom calls for Chinese authorities to provide due process to Australian television journalist Cheng Lei and release her immediately pending any judicial proceedings – in line with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (which China has signed).

It has also called on the authorities in China to ensure that any judicial
proceedings follow due process, reports the AJF.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Marise Payne confirmed that her department had been
told on August 14 of Cheng’s detention in Beijing.

According to the ABC, she is being held under what is known as “residential surveillance at a designated location”.

In effect, she has been imprisoned without charge and under Chinese law could remain there for up to six months without access to lawyers or her family.

AJF spokesman Professor Peter Greste said: “We are deeply troubled by Cheng Lei’s unjustified detention. Nothing in her life suggests she is a spy, a terrorist or a criminal of any sort.

“In the absence of evidence, the only conclusion we can come to is that she is being used as a hostage in a wider diplomatic spat between Australia and China, or perhaps because of
some critical comments she may have made.

‘Simply unacceptable’
“Either way, it is simply unacceptable.

“Her detention without charge sends a very clear message to the rest of the world and
the media community in particular – that China has little respect for the role of journalists
in public debate and seems willing to use high profile figures for political and diplomatic
leverage.”

Cheng was born in China but grew up in Australia and studied at the University of
Queensland. For the past eight years, she has worked as an on-air anchor and reporter for
the English-language TV news service, CGTN.

Since her detention, her profile has disappeared from the network’s website and her videos have been taken down.

In a video released by the Australian Global Alumni, an international relations initiative by
the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Cheng said: “The beauty of an Australian
education is more about what it doesn’t teach.

“It doesn’t teach you to just follow orders.

‘Freedom to think’
“It allows you that freedom to think for yourself, to question even textbooks, even
professors, to judge for yourself, which is critical in journalism.”

The AJF believes that a free, vibrant media benefits everyone apart from those with
things to hide, and is fundamental to any functioning society regardless of its political
system.

The AJF campaigns for legislative reform and the freedom of journalists across
the Asia-Pacific region.

In Auckland, Pacific Media Watch convenor Professor David Robie said the detention of high profile Australian television anchor Cheng Lei sent a “chilling” message to journalists in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific over the lengths China was prepared to go to silence dissent.

Lei is reported to have authored or shared Facebook posts in February critical of the cover-up of the Wuhan covid-19 outbreak.

However, working for the state-run global network CGTN her reports have generally been regarded as celebratory of Chinese achievements and commentators have described her as an important “media bridge” between Australia and China.

“While citizen journalists regarded as critics were arrested earlier in the year, this latest move represents an attack on a major media icon highly respected in Australia and China for her work,” said Dr Robie.

“It is a reprehensible act. She should be allowed legal assistance and she must be released.”

Dr Robie said it was also a worrying development for Pacific journalists in the wake of behind-the-scenes efforts at censorship of sensitive information, especially at the time of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in Port Moresby in late 2018.

Professor Peter Greste is a director of the AJF and is UNESCO chair in journalism
and communication at the University of Queensland.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz