Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom - World Press ...

Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom
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During these two years, my prison frequently received orders to arrange my release as
part of a “political exchange.”
But it was not until 1999, during the Chinese New Year, just before the visit of Prime
Minister Zhu Rongji to the United States, that I was freed “for medical reasons.”
Throughout my imprisonment, several of the international organizations participating in
this conference as well as Hong Kong journalists and the Hong Kong Journalists
Association supported and helped me. It is only now, 15 years later, that I have the
possibility of thanking you personally.
Sadly, the situation of the press in China has still not evolved. If you compare my case to
that of Hu Jia, my punishment was heavier and the legal proceedings were even more
unjust. Not only was my family not allowed to attend my trial, but my defense lawyers
were also prevented from doing so. Nevertheless, in comparison between the situation of
the press in China in 1993 and in 2008, I think that, in this Olympic year, it is much more
catastrophic.
The position of human rights and press freedom in China has slowly worsened over the
years, and this tendency has intensified since the Tiananmen Square massacre. Deng
Xiaoping did nothing more than carry out economic reforms without advancing political
reforms by a single step. Violence and repression have been used to assure the stability of
society, while the gap between rich and poor has been widening in an alarming way.
Many problems have come to light as a result of the dramatic question of human rights,
the fracturing of society, the degradation of the environment, the corruption of officials
and difficulties weighing on the poorest sectors of society (such as education, health,
housing, land use, financial risks and inflation), and the sharp contradictions at the heart
of society.
As for the current project of creating a “harmonious society,” it consists in reality of
preventing the population from understanding or even of interesting itself in the somber
history of our country and its present circumstances. Neither the Communist Party nor the
various authorities have accepted this responsibility. On the contrary, they continue to use
the traditional method of controlling the press to prevent the population from
understanding reality.
For 60 years, there has been no law to protect Chinese journalists and media
professionals. In the 1980s, the National People’s Congress began preparing a draft of a
law on the press, but it was then impossible to defend the rights of journalists openly.
There were violent discussions between the draft’s defenders, such as Hu Jiwei, a member
of the Congress, who supported a text guaranteeing respect for the law by the Communist
Party, and the government. But a representative of the Leftist forces, Hu Qiaomu, in
charge of ideology, argued that the law should apply only to journalists and information
professionals. Hu Jiwei refuted this: “It is necessary also to control those who control the
press, those who control the officials as well as the organs in charge of the press.”
Following three amendments to the text, the Leftist current succeeded in stifling