Policemen stand in formation as they guard on the bund where people were killed in a stampede incident during a new year’s celebration, in Shanghai, on Jan. 3. Chinese state media and the public criticised the government and police on Friday for failing to prevent the stampede in Shanghai that killed
36 people and dented the city’s image as modern China’s global financial hub. (China Stringer Network/Reuters)
By William Wan January 22
BEIJING — Zhang Miao has now been in prison for almost four months.
She is a Chinese researcher for a German newspaper in China, and her arrest has sparked fear, outrage and some soul-searching among foreign news organizations in China about the role of their Chinese assistants.
Reporting from China has become increasingly difficult and harrowing in recent years for both Chinese and foreign media, with a sweeping crackdown on press freedom since China’s President Xi Jinping took power.
According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, China had more journalists in prison last year than any other country. Most were Chinese citizens.