Ahead of Beijing Games, media freedom in China is criticized

Media rights groups highlight China's record of jailing journalists just two weeks before the Beijing Olympics.

The advocacy group One Free Press Coalition - which includes more than 30 media outlets and rights groups - has just released its latest listing of the world's most endangered journalists, including 10 Chinese and Hong Kong-based journalists.

Top of the list is Jimmy Lai, founder of Hong Kong's now-shuttered pro-democracy paper Apple Daily, and Zhang Zhan, who has been in prison since May 2020 for covering the pandemic in Wuhan.

According to data from the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, China has been jailing the most journalists for three consecutive years. Several journalists have been jailed for their coverage of the pandemic, including some imprisoned for reporting about the epidemic.

In this screenshot taken from an undated video, former Chinese lawyer and citizen journalist Zhang Zhan broadcasts via YouTube from an unconfirmed location in China on Dec. 28, 2020. (AFP/You Tube)

Those in poor health, like Zhang, are, particularly at risk.

After staging hunger strikes in prison, the RSF Courage in Journalism awardee's health has deteriorated.

In December 2020, the court proceedings for her conviction of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" lasted just three hours. At that time, PEN International said the trial failed to meet international standards.

After at least seven months in custody, Zhang's health had already deteriorated. PEN reports that Zhang appeared in court in a wheelchair.

There is also a reporter from Bloomberg, Haze Fan, who has been in pretrial detention for over a year, and journalists from Hong Kong.

* This article contains information sourced from VOA.