Journalistic Freedom in China

Wang Xiaolu in his public confession.  Picture courtesy of the
Economic Times

China tightened its grip on journalistic freedom last month as it arrested 200 journalists for “spreading rumors” The New York Times reported. “Caijing Journalist’s Shaming Signals China’s Growing Control Over News Media” by Amie Tsang explained on Sunday how Caijing, a respected business publication, was targeted after its coverage of the recent economic woes of the People’s Republic. The government went so far as to publicly shame Caijing journalist Wang Xiaolu by making him apologize to the nation on television.  
Founded in 1998, Caijing has been well known for pushing the envelope on what is acceptable in Chinese media. Despite its status as a possible opponent of the state, the work Caijing has done on insider trading within China has sparked regulatory inquires. The crackdown comes as a surprise and has some concerned about the direction of free speech in China. Per the New York Times: 
“Luo Changping, a former deputy managing editor at Caijing…’Maybe a few years ago, the line was higher,’ he said. ‘But now it’s dropping lower on everyone. Many journalists are saying that nowadays, there is no media that is safe. Everyone lives in a comparatively dangerous situation.’”
Personally, I am not overtly surprised by this move. China has a long and a not-so-storied (haha) history of leashing its press. What I find most interesting about this news is that there was some form of journalism in China that was sharing a narrative that contradicted that of the governments’. I was under the impression that all media in the country was government-sponsored. It’s a shame that the only time I hear about a publication like Caijing is at its pseudo-funeral. The New York Times article went into some depth about Caijing’s work on the 2003 SARS crisis and various financial matters. This leads me to believe was clearly a boon to the people of China and the new regulations will hamper its effectiveness.
The crackdown, it seems, comes at a time when the Chinese government is doing some muscle flexing. Three days ago CNN reported on how Chinese Naval Ships had entered U.S. territorial waters off of Alaska. This would be significantly less newsworthy had President Obama not been visiting the state. To be fair, China did not break any international law. U.S. officials described the maneuver as “innocent passage” in the CNN report “Chinese navy ships entered U.S. waters off Alaskan Coast” by Jim Sciutto. I believe the actions of the Chinese Navy could be seen as tone-deaf at best and clear military posturing at worst. Either way, President Xi Jinping’s government in Beijing has been making moves both domestically and internationally to consolidate power and this should not be ignored.  
I will end my blog with this. I have had the distinct privilege of traveling China and seeing just how beautiful and different that country is. If given the opportunity I would love to go back in my professional career. It seems, unfortunately, that China is not becoming any safer for journalists or Americans. Or both. I have serious reservations about recommending anyone to go there.