The perils of investigative journalism in China
In the previous post, I included a link to the EastSouthWestNorth blog, which translates some of the more interesting stories from Chinese newspapers into English.
Certainly puts the business reporting that I do into perspective.
From recent posts:The Fenyang Mining Disaster (04/07/2007) (Shanxi
Daily)
On April 2 afternoon, the reporter came to the Sankeng mine again. He
was jostled by unidentified men who threatened to bury him and his driver in
a ditch. Out of safety considerations, the reporter left the
scene. Then a crazy car case occurred with a black Santana.
CCTV Reporters Assaulted in Qinhuangdao City (04/07/2007) (NetEase)According to Wang Liping, at around 9:20am,
the three were filming from a bridge overlooking an iron factory at
Zhugezhuang town, Changli county. They were blocked by a white van in
front and a black Honda sedan in the back. More than ten identified
men then dragged the three of them out of the car and took away their
camera, mobile telephone, car keys and driver license.
(Apple
Daily)Yesterday morning, <Economics 30
Minutes> was filming the rule-breaking, polluting iron factories in
Zhugezhuang town, Changli county, Qinhuangdao city. Suddenly, a white
van stopped the progress of their vehicle. Then another black sedan
arrived. More than twenty persons dragged the three CCTV reporters out
of the car. Worse yet, some of the men dragged the female reporter to
the river side (more than 10 meters deep) and attempted to throw her into
the river. When a male reporter attempted to come to her assistance,
he was kicked several times in the chest. During the tussle, the
female reporter was injured in the hands, face and waist. During the
beating, the men were yelling: 弄死一個是一個
(One dead is one down).
Signing off in Shanghai - where the scariest thing that ever happens to me is filing tax forms
-- Maria