China

Richard Li, son of Asia's richest man Li Ka-shing, has bought a controlling stake in an esteemed Hong Kong newspaper, raising fears among journalists and lawmakers for its editorial independence. The Hong Kong Economic Journal, first published in 1973, is widely respected for its independent, critical and rational views and has a reputation as a paper of choice for the southern Chinese city's...

Amnesty International has accused Internet giants Yahoo, Microsoft and Google of violating human rights principles by cooperating with China's efforts to censor the Web and called on them to lobby for the release of jailed dissidents. The London-based human rights group also called on the Internet companies to oppose in public Chinese government requests that violate human rights standards. ALL...

Reporters Without Borders voiced dismay at the sentence of two years in prison and two years loss of civil rights handed down today by a court in Bijie in the southwestern province of Guizhou on journalist Li Yuanlong of the Bijie Ribao daily newspaper for “inciting subversion of the state” in articles he posted on the Internet. The organisation also condemned the way the authorities took Li’s...

Shanghai. July 11. INTERFAX-CHINA - A prominent Chinese newspaper has hit back against claims from Beijing that 'unbalanced reporting' on health issues is undermining the public's confidence in medical services. In a test of China's commitment to more openness and press freedom, The Southern Metropolitan Daily published a commentary in response to remarks made by the spokesman for the Ministry of...

Beijing - Police on Thursday detained a German journalist who was attempting to investigate controversial plans to dam the Nujiang river in south-western China's Yunnan province. Georg Blume, a correspondent for Die Zeit newspaper, said he was taken away by police for 'illegal reporting' on Thursday afternoon while he was speaking to villagers about plans to resettle them to make way for one...

BEIJING: A Chinese draft law that threatens to fine news media for reporting on "sudden incidents" without permission applies to foreign as well as domestic news organizations, an official involved in preparing the legislation said Monday. The law, now under consideration by the legislature, calls for fines of up to $12,500 if news media produce unauthorized reports on outbreaks of disease...

BEIJING -- A new attempt to clamp down on China's media has provoked an outcry from Chinese journalists and parliament members, sparking a controversy that could kill the proposal. The unusual rebellion by Chinese news media and politicians was triggered by a draft law that would impose fines up to $12,500 (U.S.) on media outlets that publish unauthorized reports on emergencies, including natural...

BEIJING, June 26 — Chinese media outlets will be fined if they report on "sudden events" without prior authorization from government officials, under a draft law being considered by the Communist Party-controlled legislature. The law would give government officials a powerful new tool to restrict coverage of mass outbreaks of disease, riots, strikes, accidents and other events that the authorities...

A Chinese journalist found guilty of extortion after writing articles about official corruption was sentenced Thursday to one year in prison, his wife and lawyer said. Yang Xiaoqing, a reporter for the state-run China Industrial Economy News, was sentenced at the Longhui No. 1 People’s Court in Hunan province, his lawyer, Zhang Xingshui said. Yang’s wife, Gong Jie, said she would appeal the...

Google has admitted for the first time that it compromised its principles when it entered the Chinese market and agreed to toe Beijing’s strict line on censorship. Speaking in Washington, Sergey Brin, Google’s billionaire co-founder, said the company, which operates under the motto "do no evil", had adopted "a set of rules that we weren’t comfortable with". In a hint that Google could adjust its...