In the beginning of August China announced rules to tighten its control on foreign media (see previous posting). As the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) reports, at the same time the Beijing National Security Bureau announced the prosecution of dissident journalist Ching Cheong. The veteran Hong Kong journalist, who has written on China for over 20 years and who has many contacts among prominent academics and government officials in China, is accused of spying for Taiwan and was arrested in April. According to IFJ he is facing death penalty if charges are proved. IFJ suggests that his arrest "may be intended to send a message to the media about the limits placed on press freedom by the Communist leadership."

The message is especially important to Hong Kong journalists. According to Asia Media, an academic warned on Saturday that they "must learn to understand the mainland's rules on operating across the border." Cheong`s arrest shows that the Chinese central authorities do not have a clear distinction between intelligence and news information nor between the role of a reporter and the role of a spy, argues Ong Yew-kim, researcher at the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, Chinese University, on Asia Media. He goes on saying that "China is only a partially open country; there's no freedom of the press, many people are persecuted." Similarly, Johnny Lau Yui-siu, a political analyst cited on Asia Media said that China and Hong Kong have very different definitions of news-gathering which leads journalists often into grey areas: "The central authorities' openness is only limited to the economic level," he said.

Sources: Asia Media, IFJ, previous posting