Shi Tao, an award-winning journalist, is serving 10 years in prison in China. His crime? "Leaking state secrets abroad," according to the government. Specifically, Shi posted notes from a directive from China's Propaganda Department. The directive told the media how to cover the 15th anniversary of the military crackdown in Tiananmen Square. Among other things, it said: "Overseas antagonistic forces are trying to draw young people and teenagers through such channels as religion...."To read more about Shi Tao and other journalists imprisoned in China, click here.
Bob Dietz follows China for the Committee to Protect Journalists. While China has given Chinese reporters more freedom, there's a limit to how far it will go. "China is on a path of liberalization but it has no intention of being a liberal democracy like the United States," Deitz said via phone from Hong Kong. "They want to present a unified country where everybody is pretty much agreeing to the plan for moving forward."
Tim Johnson, who covers China for McClatchy Newspapers (including The N&O), agrees. Starting Jan. 1, 2008, China gave visiting journalists more freedom. They could travel the country without registering, as was the norm. But Johnson doesn't think this freedom will last. "I fully expect that once the Olympics are over and the crowds have gone home, China will slap on the same old controls," he said in an e-mail. "Freedom of information is the enemy of those who insist they are the only legitimate rulers of a country decade after decade."
