21 Sep 2011 | Index Index, minipost
A journalist covering the house arrest of a blind Chinese Chen Guangcheng activist had her passport stolen and was forcibly removed from the activist’s villiage earlier today. Rachel Beitarie from Calcalist and Israel radio reported via Twitter that she had her passport stolen, and was taken to the suburbs of Linyi, Shandong province and abandoned whilst covering the story.
Chen Guangcheng served a 51 month prison sentence for disturbing public order following accusations that officials were forcing women to have abortions. He was released in September 2010, but has been under house arrest in Linyi since then.
20 Sep 2011 | Index Index, minipost
A Chinese journalist broke the story of a health scandal on the sale of cooking oil dredged from gutters was stabbed to death on Monday. Li Xiang, 30, a reporter with Luoyang Television Station in Henan province, was knifed more than 10 times as he returned home from a karaoke session with friends, local reports said.
20 Sep 2011 | Index Index, minipost
In the first sentence of its kind, a farmer from mainland has been jailed for three weeks after setting fire to a Chinese flag in Hong Kong. Zhu Rongchang, 74, from Jiangxi province, pleaded not guilty to flag desecration, arguing that he was exercising his right to free speech. He burned the flag in Golden Bauhinia Square in central Hong Kong on 22 July, in a protest against the Beijing government.
19 Sep 2011 | Index Index, minipost
China‘s version of Pop Idol, Super Girl, has been suspended for one year by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT). Despite attracting up to 400m viewers at its peak, reports suggest some officials saw the show as subversive, with audience voting allegedly mirroring Western-style democracy. However, the order from SARFT to the show’s broadcaster, Hunan TV, reportedly stated that the programme had often exceeded its allotted time slot.
