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China is not ready for the Jasmine Revolution

On Sunday afternoon, Chinese policemen in Beijing viciously assaulted BBC journalist Damian Grammaticas, who had been researching the story of the anonymous Internet calls that were attempting to bring the Jasmine Revolution to China. The shopping streets that were supposed to house the peaceful protests were littered with police officers and security officers dressed in plain clothes. All pedestrians entering the shopping centre were forced to go through police monitored controls, while foreign journalists, like Grammaticas, became the victims of brutal police attacks.

Grammaticas reports having seen a journalist, who worked for Bloomberg, being kicked in the face several times. At the same time, Grammaticas was rudely pulled by his hair into a nearby police van. Once in the van, police officers tried several times to slam the door shut, not seeming to care that Grammatica’s legs were what was hindering the door from closing.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry claims to have “handled the situation properly,” arguing that the foreign journalists at the site of the planned demonstrations had allegedly “disrupted the peace”. Considering the circumstances, the Ministry seemed to think that it was perfectly logical to detain several journalists for no reason and allow plainclothes security officers to beat up a Bloomberg reporter so badly that he needed to be rushed to the hospital. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu went as far as to ask, “Why do some journalists always run into trouble? I find it strange. The journalists should really respect the laws and regulations.” The Foreign Ministry requested that the detained journalists cooperate with the police forces in order to avoid further conflict. Interestingly enough, the Ministry was unable to name which reporting restrictions had actually been breached.

In 2007 the law for foreign journalists was altered with regards to the Beijing Olympic Games coming up in 2008. Journalists were officially allowed to report freely without having to get a special permit. As long as the interviewee agreed to give an interview journalists could continue with their story. Of course, not all countries involved were willing to accept this new alteration. Several orders uncovered by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) indicated that the Communist regime in China had no intentions of sticking to its promises.

The Jasmine Revolution, which swept through North Africa in little more than a week following the first “day of rage” in Tunisia, quickly illustrated the rapid rate at which its fingers of influence could reach. What happened in Beijing on Sunday illustrates the fear that the Communist regime has of the possible spread of the Jasmine Revolution throughout China. Perhaps this fear is the reason that, despite the lack of any sign of protest, dog squads, paramilitary units, and police forces patrolled Wangfujing Street on 27 February. In a video report about Grammaticas, the ruthless force used by Chinese security units was emphasised once again. Martin Patience confirms, “Authorities here are concerned that events in the Middle East could inspire social unrest in China.”

According to IFJ General Secretary Aidan White, the International Federation of Journalists has reported that “…a series of orders issued by Chinese propaganda in 2010, is a worrying indicator that China’s leaders are not fulfilling the promises made to the international community, following the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, to move towards a more open media environment”.

The “Delegation of the European Union to China” is, “Troubled by the many accounts of foreign journalists being detained without explanation and being physically intimidated or assaulted in Beijing on Sunday 27 February 2011”. The Delegation urged China’s regime to respect the rights of foreign journalists to report freely. They also requested the regime to ensure that foreign journalists’ physical integrity would not be harmed while working on an assignment.

With Chinese propaganda up and running, the chances of the Jasmine Revolution spreading to the Communist country are getting smaller by the day. Since the Chinese government officially banned the word “Jasmine” from all Chinese search engines, most people remain ignorant about the on-going revolutions in the Middle East. They also remain unaware of the Internet call to bring the Jasmine revolution to China.

This banning of information is, sadly, quite common in China. Social communities such as Facebook and Twitter have been shut off since 2009 and LinkedIn became inaccessible after the call for protests in Beijing was found on the site. Following reports that the US ambassador to China was supposedly seen at the site of the protests, Chinese government officials made the decision to block his name from all Chinese search engines as well.

This is perhaps the saddest controversy of the 21st century. While China is, on the one hand, a country that has one of the fastest growing economies, it is also a country that has the least informed citizens of the developed world. It is clearly going to take more than an Internet call, that gets caught in the sticky nets of the Chinese propaganda, to kick off a revolution. It is also going to take a lot more to establish a sturdy democracy, which would give the media a chance to broadcast and publish freely. Until this happens, it will remain difficult for foreign journalists to report unharmed and unhindered from China.

For more information please see the handbook for journalists reporting in China which was published by the IFJ. The handbook can be download here.

Tags: ambassador, anonymous internet calls, bbc, beijing, bloomberg, china, chinese foreign ministry, chinese government, damian grammaticas, european union, facebook, general secretary, international federation of journalists, internet call, jiang yu, journalist, linkedin, martin patience, middle east, north africa, open media environment, reporter, search engines, spokeswoman, the 2008 beijing olympic games, tunisia, twitter, united states,

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