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China to Journos: Cover Protests, Lose Your Visa

Activists, lawyers disappear amid 'Jasmine Revolution' demonstrations

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 4, 2011 9:11 AM CST

(Newser) – As Beijing moves to prevent Middle East-style protests from taking hold in China, officials are issuing a warning to foreign reporters: If you cover the protests, you may lose your visa. Police demanded interviews with dozens of journalists this week after they tried to report on Sunday's “Jasmine Revolution” demonstrations, the Christian Science Monitor reports.

A "common theme" emerged from those interviews, with journalists saying they were warned that they’ve “broken Chinese regulations, officials know about it, and the journalist will face consequences if he or she does it again. Those consequences include being arrested or detained until the visa or work permit is canceled,” said a foreign correspondents’ group. Meanwhile, many human rights activists and key lawyers have been detained or even disappeared in recent days, and the word “jasmine” has been censored on some sites.

Students from Hong Kong and Macau shout slogans at a protest rally to support the Jasmine Revolution, the name given to the Tunisian protest movement, in China on the square of Chiang Kai-shek memorial hall, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011, in Taipei, Taiwan.
Students from Hong Kong and Macau shout slogans at a protest rally to support "the Jasmine Revolution," the name given to the Tunisian protest movement, in China on the square of Chiang Kai-shek memorial...   (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A man, center, confronts with police officers in front of a cinema that was a planned protest site in Shanghai, China, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2011.
A man, center, confronts with police officers in front of a cinema that was a planned protest site in Shanghai, China, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2011.   (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
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COMMENTS
Showing 2 of 2 comments
JimW
Mar 4, 2011 11:11 AM CST
Everything in Texas is big. Once, a Texan died, and was so big, they couldn't find a big enough coffin. So, they gave him an enema, and buried him in a shoebox.
CarpeDiem
Mar 4, 2011 10:12 AM CST
This is exactly what the liberal leadership would like to have here in America

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