ASIA
26 March 2014
Freedom of the Press in Asia
The recent strike and protests by journalists at Southern Weekend are harsh reminders of the repression of press freedom in China and many other Asia countries.
The recent strike and protests by journalists at China's newspaper, Southern Weekend, are harsh reminders of the country's repression of press freedom. It is also a signal to the new Chinese leadership that its citizens are increasingly prepared to take them on.
The highly publicized strike was provoked by the propaganda chief of Guangdong province, Tuo Zhen, axing the newspaper's New Year's editorial, which called for the protection of individual rights. He replaced it with his own poorly-written and error-riddled paean to Communist Party power. Chinese journalists are calling it the “rape of Southern Weekend".
This incident has exploded in public outrage and protests. Actress Yao Chen added fuel to the fire by tweeting to her 30 million followers a quote by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, "one word of truth outweighs the whole world". This incident also coincides with public outcry over a chemical spill in northern Shanxi province which poisoned drinking water for millions of people. The province's acting governor took some six days to issue a public warning, provoking widespread public anger. He was none other than the son of LI Peng, the Chinese Premier at the time of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
China's repression of press freedom is legion. According to global freedom watchdog Freedom House, China has the world's most sophisticated system of media repression. And it has been stepping up its drive to control both old and new sources of news and information through censorship and arrests, especially in conjunction with the recent leadership change, scandals and the Arab Spring.
In Freedom House's 2012 ranking of freedom of the press, North Korea has the lowest ranking of the 197 countries covered. And China, notwithstanding its record breaking economic growth and poverty reduction, scores little better at 187th.
The Freedom of the Press index assesses the degree of print, broadcast and Internet freedom based on three criteria: the legal environment in which media operate; political influences on reporting and access to information; and economic pressures on content and the dissemination of news. Countries are thus assessed and placed in one of three categories according to whether their press is free, partly free or not free.
The message from Freedom House's work is very clear. While emerging Asia's governments are giving their citizens greater economic and personal freedoms, there are still many restrictions on freedom of the press. In the name of promoting stability, they clearly want to minimize any challenges to their undemocratic or weakly democratic grip on power.
In addition to China and North Korea, Asian countries where the press is judged to be "not free" include Burma (global ranking of 187th), Vietnam (182nd), Laos (182nd), Sri Lanka (161st), Singapore (150th), Pakistan (144th), Malaysia (144th), and Cambodia (144th). The "partly free" category includes countries like Thailand (132nd), Bangladesh (111th), Indonesia (97th), the Philippines (88th), India (80th), Hong Kong (70th), and South Korea (68th).
Only a few Asian countries are judged to have "free press". These are Taiwan (47th), Japan (37th), Australia (31st) and New Zealand (16th).
Overall, Asia's record is poor. Only 5 per cent of the region's population have access to "free press", while 49 per cent have "partly free" and 46 per cent have a "not free" press environment.
You will of course be wondering which countries have the world's greatest freedom of the press. Finland, Norway and Sweden tie for first place, closely followed by Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The US and the UK, those great promoters of freedom of the press, are further down the list at 22nd and 31st respectively.
The media repression practised in Asia and many other countries is just one example of the many restrictions on freedom that non-democratic elites in these countries use to keep their grip on power. In China, almost all Chinese news media outlets are owned, controlled and tightly trameled by the state in order to manipulate public opinion to uphold party rule.
While this can work in the short-term, as we have seen in this recent strike, it can also result in a buildup of frustrations by people who are educated, have access to information from many other sources, and who are increasingly willing to fight for their freedoms.
In China, this poses an early test for the new leadership under Xi Jinping, who is trying to turn the page on China's scandalous year of 2012. Xi Jinping will have to do a lot more than change the government's style and atmospherics.
The Chinese Communist government would have much to gain by allowing greater freedom of the press. It can provide the society and polity with a safety valve that lets tension out of the system. But ... it would also require greater transparency and accountability by leaders.
Executive Director
Asian Century Institute
www.asiancenturyinstitute.com
The highly publicized strike was provoked by the propaganda chief of Guangdong province, Tuo Zhen, axing the newspaper's New Year's editorial, which called for the protection of individual rights. He replaced it with his own poorly-written and error-riddled paean to Communist Party power. Chinese journalists are calling it the “rape of Southern Weekend".
This incident has exploded in public outrage and protests. Actress Yao Chen added fuel to the fire by tweeting to her 30 million followers a quote by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, "one word of truth outweighs the whole world". This incident also coincides with public outcry over a chemical spill in northern Shanxi province which poisoned drinking water for millions of people. The province's acting governor took some six days to issue a public warning, provoking widespread public anger. He was none other than the son of LI Peng, the Chinese Premier at the time of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
China's repression of press freedom is legion. According to global freedom watchdog Freedom House, China has the world's most sophisticated system of media repression. And it has been stepping up its drive to control both old and new sources of news and information through censorship and arrests, especially in conjunction with the recent leadership change, scandals and the Arab Spring.
In Freedom House's 2012 ranking of freedom of the press, North Korea has the lowest ranking of the 197 countries covered. And China, notwithstanding its record breaking economic growth and poverty reduction, scores little better at 187th.
The Freedom of the Press index assesses the degree of print, broadcast and Internet freedom based on three criteria: the legal environment in which media operate; political influences on reporting and access to information; and economic pressures on content and the dissemination of news. Countries are thus assessed and placed in one of three categories according to whether their press is free, partly free or not free.
The message from Freedom House's work is very clear. While emerging Asia's governments are giving their citizens greater economic and personal freedoms, there are still many restrictions on freedom of the press. In the name of promoting stability, they clearly want to minimize any challenges to their undemocratic or weakly democratic grip on power.
In addition to China and North Korea, Asian countries where the press is judged to be "not free" include Burma (global ranking of 187th), Vietnam (182nd), Laos (182nd), Sri Lanka (161st), Singapore (150th), Pakistan (144th), Malaysia (144th), and Cambodia (144th). The "partly free" category includes countries like Thailand (132nd), Bangladesh (111th), Indonesia (97th), the Philippines (88th), India (80th), Hong Kong (70th), and South Korea (68th).
Only a few Asian countries are judged to have "free press". These are Taiwan (47th), Japan (37th), Australia (31st) and New Zealand (16th).
Overall, Asia's record is poor. Only 5 per cent of the region's population have access to "free press", while 49 per cent have "partly free" and 46 per cent have a "not free" press environment.
You will of course be wondering which countries have the world's greatest freedom of the press. Finland, Norway and Sweden tie for first place, closely followed by Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The US and the UK, those great promoters of freedom of the press, are further down the list at 22nd and 31st respectively.
The media repression practised in Asia and many other countries is just one example of the many restrictions on freedom that non-democratic elites in these countries use to keep their grip on power. In China, almost all Chinese news media outlets are owned, controlled and tightly trameled by the state in order to manipulate public opinion to uphold party rule.
While this can work in the short-term, as we have seen in this recent strike, it can also result in a buildup of frustrations by people who are educated, have access to information from many other sources, and who are increasingly willing to fight for their freedoms.
In China, this poses an early test for the new leadership under Xi Jinping, who is trying to turn the page on China's scandalous year of 2012. Xi Jinping will have to do a lot more than change the government's style and atmospherics.
The Chinese Communist government would have much to gain by allowing greater freedom of the press. It can provide the society and polity with a safety valve that lets tension out of the system. But ... it would also require greater transparency and accountability by leaders.
Author
John WestExecutive Director
Asian Century Institute
www.asiancenturyinstitute.com