CHINA, JOURNALISM AND THE STATE SERIES: Who’s To Say What Zhao Yan Did
[See Series Introduction -- the Editors]
By Teru Chen
On September 7, 2004, The New York Times published an article written by Joseph Kahn, in which he told readers that an offer by Mr. Jiang Zemin to retire would be announced in two weeks. Several days later, the authorities arrested Zhao Yan, a local journalist working as a researcher for the Beijing bureau of The New York Times. There wasn't a clear reason for Zhao's arrest until October 20, when it was announced that he was detained on charges of providing state secrets to foreigners. Some of Zhao's friends believe that State Security officials are seeking to tie Mr. Zhao to the Kahn article.
Zhao Yan is a famous journalist in China who fights for people's rights. It surprised many people when he was arrested for leaking state secrets. For further information on the case, I searched on the Internet. But I was surprised: I found many comments on the topic on Google, but almost all of them brought me the dreaded "This page cannot be found" message when I clicked on them. But soon I knew what had happened.
Our press is now under a repressive atmosphere. Free speech about sensitive topics is banned, and Zhao's case is just one of them. As far as I can see, the Zhao Yan affair is only a small part of a much larger event. Many people are confused as to whether the retirement of Mr. Jiang Zemin should even be a state secret. Many people are also wondering if it was Zhao Yan who leaked the information, or if it was the authorities themselves who leaked it. There wasn't any evidence to prove that Zhao had leaked state secrets when he was placed under arrest, and till now we still know nothing about the real reason for Zhao's detention. It is only a supposition that he was arrested because of the article published in The Times on September 7.
But let us suppose the article is the reason Zhao is under arrest. If that is the case, many people think that it is unreasonable. Reasoning that Mr. Jiang's retirement was going to be announced sooner or later, they believe it was only a serious problem because foreign media announced the information first.
I had this opinion at first; but after thinking it over deeply, I think it may be a problem of state security. If foreign media can know the retirement plans of Mr. Jiang before it is announced in China, what will happen if other military secrets are released like this? The authorities may consider it a very serious problem which may do harm to the state and its national interests. Maybe Zhao's case is not as serious as what we have considered, but it was necessary to arrest and punish him in order to set an example to others who intend to do such reporting.
If the article was not the reason for this event, what might be the cause? I read many articles and found that many people have the opinion that Zhao was arrested because of his fight against corrupt officials. It reminded me of Jiang Weiping, another journalist who fought against corruption. He was put into prison several months after he had written an article exposing the serious corruption committed by Ma Xiangdong, a high-level official in Da Lian Province. He was also arrested on charges of providing state secrets and sentenced to five-year’s imprisonment. He is still in prison.
There is another such event that happened recently: on December 14, the Chinese police detained three leading intellectuals who have been critical of the government, apparently stepping up a campaign to silence public dissent. They are Yu Jie and Liu Xiaobo, literary figures, and Zhang Zuhua, a political theorist. They were suspected of "participating in activities harmful to the state."
That's why I said Zhao's detention is only a small part of the whole. There have been a string of arrests recently of journalists, writers and scholars, most of whom have spoken out their opinions on sensitive topics or written articles or essays that officials have deemed damaging. The media in China is party-controlled, so there are many unwritten rules for journalists to obey.
It is the media's responsibility to tell the truth to the public, but unlike in the U.S. where there is the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, the authority in China is only the Communist Party. If too many critical comments are published against this authority, the whole state may become precarious. So it can be understood why the authorities pay so much attention to the behavior of media.
However, it is still just a guess about the reason for Zhao's arrest. We certainly cannot pronounce a reason because it involves many political rules and sensitive matters we don't know about. As far as I am concerned, Zhao's situation is not a simple thing that can be solved with a few discussions in a classroom. Everybody has his or her opinion on this.
What is certain is that for those of us who want to be journalists in the future, this event gives us a good opportunity to see clearly the circumstances journalists are working under in China.
By Teru Chen
On September 7, 2004, The New York Times published an article written by Joseph Kahn, in which he told readers that an offer by Mr. Jiang Zemin to retire would be announced in two weeks. Several days later, the authorities arrested Zhao Yan, a local journalist working as a researcher for the Beijing bureau of The New York Times. There wasn't a clear reason for Zhao's arrest until October 20, when it was announced that he was detained on charges of providing state secrets to foreigners. Some of Zhao's friends believe that State Security officials are seeking to tie Mr. Zhao to the Kahn article.
Zhao Yan is a famous journalist in China who fights for people's rights. It surprised many people when he was arrested for leaking state secrets. For further information on the case, I searched on the Internet. But I was surprised: I found many comments on the topic on Google, but almost all of them brought me the dreaded "This page cannot be found" message when I clicked on them. But soon I knew what had happened.
Our press is now under a repressive atmosphere. Free speech about sensitive topics is banned, and Zhao's case is just one of them. As far as I can see, the Zhao Yan affair is only a small part of a much larger event. Many people are confused as to whether the retirement of Mr. Jiang Zemin should even be a state secret. Many people are also wondering if it was Zhao Yan who leaked the information, or if it was the authorities themselves who leaked it. There wasn't any evidence to prove that Zhao had leaked state secrets when he was placed under arrest, and till now we still know nothing about the real reason for Zhao's detention. It is only a supposition that he was arrested because of the article published in The Times on September 7.
But let us suppose the article is the reason Zhao is under arrest. If that is the case, many people think that it is unreasonable. Reasoning that Mr. Jiang's retirement was going to be announced sooner or later, they believe it was only a serious problem because foreign media announced the information first.
I had this opinion at first; but after thinking it over deeply, I think it may be a problem of state security. If foreign media can know the retirement plans of Mr. Jiang before it is announced in China, what will happen if other military secrets are released like this? The authorities may consider it a very serious problem which may do harm to the state and its national interests. Maybe Zhao's case is not as serious as what we have considered, but it was necessary to arrest and punish him in order to set an example to others who intend to do such reporting.
If the article was not the reason for this event, what might be the cause? I read many articles and found that many people have the opinion that Zhao was arrested because of his fight against corrupt officials. It reminded me of Jiang Weiping, another journalist who fought against corruption. He was put into prison several months after he had written an article exposing the serious corruption committed by Ma Xiangdong, a high-level official in Da Lian Province. He was also arrested on charges of providing state secrets and sentenced to five-year’s imprisonment. He is still in prison.
There is another such event that happened recently: on December 14, the Chinese police detained three leading intellectuals who have been critical of the government, apparently stepping up a campaign to silence public dissent. They are Yu Jie and Liu Xiaobo, literary figures, and Zhang Zuhua, a political theorist. They were suspected of "participating in activities harmful to the state."
That's why I said Zhao's detention is only a small part of the whole. There have been a string of arrests recently of journalists, writers and scholars, most of whom have spoken out their opinions on sensitive topics or written articles or essays that officials have deemed damaging. The media in China is party-controlled, so there are many unwritten rules for journalists to obey.
It is the media's responsibility to tell the truth to the public, but unlike in the U.S. where there is the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, the authority in China is only the Communist Party. If too many critical comments are published against this authority, the whole state may become precarious. So it can be understood why the authorities pay so much attention to the behavior of media.
However, it is still just a guess about the reason for Zhao's arrest. We certainly cannot pronounce a reason because it involves many political rules and sensitive matters we don't know about. As far as I am concerned, Zhao's situation is not a simple thing that can be solved with a few discussions in a classroom. Everybody has his or her opinion on this.
What is certain is that for those of us who want to be journalists in the future, this event gives us a good opportunity to see clearly the circumstances journalists are working under in China.
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