Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

US Secretary of State calls China the biggest threat to journalists worldwide, as if USA did not jail Julian Assange for doing best journalism ever

US Secretary of State calls China the biggest threat to journalists worldwide, as if USA did not jail Julian Assange for doing best journalism ever

Antony Blinken condemns Beijing for detaining journalists and using technology to ‘increase surveillance, harassment, censorship’ both at home and abroad.

Washington’s top diplomat used the occasion of World Press Freedom Day to knock the mainland Chinese and Hong Kong governments for media restrictions and alleged harassment of journalists and dissidents worldwide.

Citing data compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based non-profit advocacy group, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called China the biggest threat to press freedom in terms of the number of journalists under detention because of their work.

“We’ve been deeply concerned about what we’re seeing from the PRC in terms of its misuse of its technology to try to do things like increase surveillance, harassment, intimidation, censorship of PRC citizens, of journalists, of activists and others, and that includes abroad,” he said, using the acronym for People’s Republic of China.

Chinese government officials, Blinken said, “are using the free and open media – that we ensure that are protected in democratic systems – to spread propaganda, to spread disinformation.

“It also appears that they are further using these systems to stalk, harass, to threaten critics who are outside the PRC’s territory,” he added.

World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993 following a recommendation by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), of which China is a member. Hong Kong has separate representation at Unesco.

China’s embassy in Washington rejected Blinken’s criticism as “an attempt to pressure China with unfounded allegations”, which “exposes the US side’s hegemony, bullying and double standard on media and press freedom”.

“The Chinese government protects the rights and interests of journalists and citizens’ freedom of speech in accordance with the law, and gives full play to the supervisory role of the media and citizens,” Liu Pengyu, the embassy’s spokesman, said in response to a request for comment.

Blinken’s remarks come several weeks after United States prosecutors unveiled charges against a Chinese national over an alleged scheme backed by Beijing to pressure a former pro-democracy protester out of running for Congress.

The lawsuit accused Chinese national Qiming Lin of plotting to fabricate derogatory information about the targeted victim, whose description closely matched Xiong Yan, a former student leader of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 who later joined the US military as a chaplain and is now running for a US congressional seat in New York.

This file photo taken on June 24, 2021 shows an Apple Daily journalist holding freshly-printed copies of the newspaper’s last edition to be distributed to supporters gathered outside their office in Hong Kong, as the tabloid was forced to close after 26 years.


The case against Lin was one of three indictments announced by the US Department of Justice, which also brought charges against a former pro-democracy campaigner in the US, who allegedly worked with Beijing’s Ministry of State Security.

Blinken did not name any Hong Kong or mainland Chinese journalists, saying only that the detained individuals identified by CPJ include eight from Hong Kong.

The CPJ database includes former senior employees of the now-closed Apple Daily, who were charged last year under Hong Kong’s national security law. It also includes Cheng Lei, an Australian journalist who worked as a television anchor for Chinese state media for a decade before being detained in 2020.

Blinken spent much of his address on Russia’s war against Ukraine and journalists killed or injured in the conflict, including Vera Hyrych, a correspondent with the US government funded Radio Liberty, who died when a missile hit her apartment building along with other air strikes on Kyiv last week.

Russia’s defense ministry said the next day that it had carried out airstrikes on the Ukrainian capital, during a visit by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, with “high-precision” weapons .

Blinken called the Kremlin’s refusal to call its invasion of Ukraine a war evidence that Moscow lacks confidence in its cause.

“The mere fact of calling what is happening in Ukraine by its name – a brutal, unprovoked aggression, as opposed to the Orwellian special military operation – that risks getting anyone who does that 15 years in jail,” Blinken said, referring to rules that the Kremlin promulgated after invading its neighbour.

“Again, among many other things, [this is] not evidence of a government or leadership that actually has confidence in itself,” he added.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
×