PRESS CONFERENCE

Yanking the Tiger’s Tail - Reporting in China

Peter Langan, Former Senior Editor, China Desk at the South China Morning Post
Michael Smith, North Asia correspondent, the Australian Financial Review

11:00-12:00 Thursday, October 13, 2022
(The speech and Q & A will be in English.)

 

China languishes near the bottom of the world press freedom rankings and has become an increasingly vexed assignment for foreign reporters. The Chinese government has expelled correspondents from many of the world's most prestigious media organizations, including the The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post and demands a growing list of paperwork for new reporters seeking visas. In Hong Kong, the National Security Law, enacted in 2020, has resulted not only in the closure of the Apple Daily, Hong Kong's largest-selling newspaper, it has left foreign reporters there struggling to work out the shifting parameters of media freedom. Many foreign journalists have had their visa applications rejected or have left.

For some, these changes represent a new stage in the Beijing government's ambitions to bring the media to heel.  So, will they succeed and can foreign reporters still safely report from inside China? To answer these and other questions, two veteran reporters have agreed to discuss their experiences. Peter Langan is an ex-president of the FCCJ and a former senior editor at the China desk at the South China Morning Post. Over a 35-year journalism career in Asia, he has also been a Tokyo bureau chief at Bloomberg News. Micheal Smith is author of the book, The Last Correspondent, published last year (https://www.ultimopress.com.au/lastcorrespondent). He will speak about his experience of having to leave China and on the challenge of reporting in the country.
 

How to attend: 
Please register at front@fccj.or.jp with your name, the name of your media outlet, and FCCJ membership number. Due to space restrictions attendance will be limited. Doors open 15 minutes before the event. Please sign in, giving your name and contact details at the reception, and have your temperature taken before proceeding. 

How to watch online: https://www.youtube.com/c/FCCJchannel/live 
Livestreaming of the press events will be available and video of this event will be uploaded to our FCCJ YouTube channel. 

How to ask questions: https://forms.gle/n8Pznvghp4XyQ47W9
 
Members watching the event online can submit questions for the speakers in advance using this submission form.

TV crew: Please make a reservation at front@fccj.or.jp. Doors open for TV crews only at 30 minutes before the event. 

 

Professional Activities Committee