China is the country with the highest number of journalists arrested, 158, of which 56 in Hong Kong, said today in London the representative of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in the United Kingdom, Fiona O’Brien .
The situation contributed to China’s penultimate position in the 21st edition of the RSF world press freedom ranking, published today on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, marked this Wednesday.
China dropped four places to 179th on the list of 180 countries, just above North Korea.
“This is the lowest position China has ever had on the World Press Freedom Index. It has been at the bottom for a long time, but this is the worst”, said O’Brien, at a press conference.
Currently, according to the representative, 102 journalists or media workers are being held in China, a number that rises to 158 if professionals arrested in Hong Kong are included.
According to Fiona O’Brien, Hong Kong is a prime example of how China is using legislation as a weapon to silence journalists.
“The introduction of a national security law in 2020 reduced the independent press in Hong Kong to absolutely zero, which is particularly sad because Hong Kong had a very vibrant media environment, it was known as one of the most vibrant in the region,” she said. .
Also present at the same press conference, the editor of the Chinese service of the British public broadcaster BBC, Howard Zhang, said that “there is still a little freedom of the press” for the media that also give positive news about the country.
However, Howard Zhang admitted that “the space is becoming increasingly narrow”, referring to visa restrictions for foreign journalists and the threat posed by a new espionage law.
Zhang believes that Macau has been spared because in that territory “they have been quite conformist in recent decades, collaborative” with the regime.
“They are more interested in making money [with the gaming industry] and not in expressing opinions, so they have not been so bothered”, replied Howard Zhang, when asked by the Lusa agency.
The RSF report – which analyzes the situation in 180 countries or territories – says the situation is “very bad” in 31 countries, “bad” in 42 countries, “problematic” in 55 and “good” or “fairly good” in 52 countries.
For the seventh consecutive year, Norway appears as the country with the best environment for journalism, but the second place is not occupied by a Nordic country (which is unusual in relation to recent editions of the survey), leaving Ireland, which rose four places, ahead of Denmark.
Portugal appears in ninth place, the first position in the ranking of countries with the “reasonably good” environment classification, one position in the “good” ranking, behind Estonia and ahead of Timor-Leste, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
Only Asian countries appear in the bottom three places of the RSF ranking: Vietnam (a country accused of having expelled all independent journalists), China and North Korea (which is considered one of the biggest exporters of propaganda).
The report also reveals that the global disinformation scenario has been favorable for the increase of propaganda in Russia, which appears in the 164th place on the list, after falling nine places in the last year.
The United States also fell three places in the last 12 months, with a record of a more problematic environment for journalists at the regional press level, namely because of situations of violence against reporters.
“The World Press Freedom Index shows enormous volatility, with big rises and falls and unprecedented changes, such as Brazil’s rise to 18th position and Senegal’s fall of 31 places. This instability is a result of increased aggressiveness on the part of authorities in many countries and growing animosity towards journalists on social media and in the physical world,” commented Christophe Deloire, Secretary General of RSF.
