Statements
FCCC statement on pressure from media outlets against journalists joining professional associations
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) is deeply concerned about a growing trend among employers of foreign media professionals in China to discourage them from actively engaging with journalists’ organizations such as the FCCC, the Hong Kong Journalists...
In remembrance: Benjamin Kang Lim
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China deeply mourns the passing of Benjamin Kang Lim, a veteran journalist who covered Greater China for almost four decades. Born in Manila, Ben started his career with Reuters, eventually serving as the agency's bureau chief in...
FCCC statement on harassment of reporters in Chengdu
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China is extremely disturbed by the treatment of Dutch journalists during a recent reporting trip in Chengdu. This incident comes amid widespread reports from FCCC members of increasing harassment and obstruction across China, as...
FCCC Statement on Lack of Access to Third Belt and Road Forum
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China (FCCC) is strongly dissatisfied with the lack of access granted to foreign journalists in mainland China for the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF), which took place this month. In line with a...
FCCC statement on the return of Cheng Lei to Australia
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China is delighted by the news Australian journalist Cheng Lei has been able to return home, after more than three years in detention on national security charges. According to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Cheng's...
FCCC Statement on Indian journalists in China
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China is concerned and saddened to learn that since April, three Indian journalists have lost their ability to work in China as a result of being unable to renew their press credentials or having them revoked. A fourth journalist...
FCCC Statement on Lack of Access to the Two Sessions
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China (FCCC) is very disappointed at the minimal level of access granted to resident foreign journalists in mainland China during the just-concluded "Two Sessions" meetings in Beijing. Chinese authorities have progressively stepped...
FCCC Statement on police treatment of journalists at protests in Shanghai and Beijing
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China is extremely disturbed by the treatment of journalists covering recent protests in Shanghai and Beijing. Journalists from multiple outlets were physically harassed by police while covering the unrest, and at least two...
FCCC statement on passing of Jose Santiago “Chito” Sta. Romana
April 20, 2022 The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China is saddened to learn of the passing of Jose Santiago "Chito" Sta. Romana, the Philippines' ambassador to China. As former ABC News correspondent in China, Chito was also an early and foundational member of the...
FCCC statement on Olympics reporting
February 21, 2022 The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China (FCCC) is dismayed that the conditions for independent reporting in China continue to fall short of international standards during the Winter Olympic Games. After an Olympic ski event, a foreign reporter was...
Foreign Correspondents Club of China Statement on Olympic Coverage
November 2, 2021 Foreign Correspondents Club of China Statement on Olympic Coverage The Foreign Correspondents Club of China (FCCC) is concerned about the lack of transparency and clarity from the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) as well as...
FCCC Statement on Harassment of Reporters Covering Henan Floods
July 27, 2021 The Foreign Correspondents Club of China is very concerned to witness the recent online and offline harassment of journalists covering devastating floods in the Chinese province of Henan this month. In one particularly alarming incident, Henan’s...
FCCC Statement on Journalist Departures
March 30, 2021 The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China is concerned and saddened to learn that John Sudworth, the BBC’s award-winning China correspondent for the last nine years, left mainland China at short notice on March 23rd amid concerns for his safety and that...
FCCC Statement on Press Conferences at the “Two Sessions”
March 26, 2021 The annual session of China's parliament has illustrated a worrying trend in the way foreign journalists are allowed to work in the country. During Beijing’s “Two Sessions” legislative and political meetings in early March, many international reporters...
FCCC Statement on the Harassment, Intimidation and Exit Bans Against Australian Journalists
September 8, 2020 The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China strongly condemns the Chinese government’s unprecedented harassment and intimidation of two Australian journalists by preventing them from leaving the country, leading both to flee China after a diplomatic...
FCCC Statement on the Use of Correspondent Visas as a Political Bargaining Chip
September 7, 2020 The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China is very alarmed that Chinese authorities have stopped renewing press credentials for journalists working at US news organizations. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has instead issued letters in lieu of...
FCCC Statement on Chinese Blocking of Foreign News Websites
China’s internet censorship tools block access to publicly-available websites belonging to nearly a quarter of the foreign news organizations accredited to report in China. An analysis conducted by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China and GreatFire.org shows that...
FCCC Statement – regarding the beating of visiting South Korean journalist
FCCC Statement – July 2017
FCCC Statement on harassment of BBC journalists in Hunan province.
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China condemns the harassment of and violence against a team of BBC journalists in Hunan province this week in an attempt to prevent them from reporting the story of a Chinese petitioner who was attempting to travel to Beijing to...
Expulsion of Ursula Gauthier
The Foreign Correspondents Club of China is appalled at the decision of the Chinese government to deny accreditation to the Beijing correspondent of L’Obs – Ursula Gauthier. Without this accreditation she will be forced to leave China at the end of December, as no new...
FCCC Statement on Journalists Assaulted
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China condemns the harassment of and violence against overseas media and their local staff by Chinese authorities in an apparent effort to block reporting of the trial of lawyer Pu Zhiqiang in Beijing today. Uniformed security...
FCCC Statement: Intimidation of Journalist
The FCCC is deeply concerned by the attempts to intimidate one of our members following publication of an article related to terrorism and Xinjiang. The correspondent of L’Obs, Ursula Gauthier, has been the subject of two inflammatory editorials in the Global Times,...
FCCC Visa Survey 2014 Findings
Die Zeit Journalist
Some of you will have already seen the account written by FCCC member Angela Koeckritz from Die Zeit of the continued detention of her assistant Zhang Miao and of her own repeated and prolonged interrogation by the police which eventually led to Angela choosing to...
Position Paper on Working Conditions for Foreign Correspondents in China
September 2014 Executive summary (PDF) China’s ruling Communist Party continues to erect hurdles to foreign journalists, and the media companies that employ them, discouraging reporting on many aspects of China. Foreign journalists are restricted in where they can...
FCCC protests detention of news assistant
The FCCC is alarmed and deeply concerned by reports that Xin Jiang, a Chinese news assistant employed by the Japanese newspaper Nikkei, has been detained on suspicion of “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble” after having been held incommunicado by police for...
Foreign Correspondents Club of China Year-end Statement
Reviewing the conditions under which foreign reporters work in China, the FCCC is disturbed to note a number of negative trends over the past year. - In particular, we have found that the Chinese authorities are increasingly using the denial of visas, or delays in...
Paul Mooney
The FCCC is deeply concerned that a respected and correspondent such as Paul Mooney should have his visa rejected in such a manner. Such delays and lack of transparency merely add to the impression that the visa process is being used by the authorities to intimidate...
Violence against foreign journalists
The FCCC board on Friday sent the following letter to Ms. Chen Mingjian at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Information Department, protesting about the violent treatment of foreign correspondents outside the court where Xu Zhiyong was being tried last Wednesday. These...
Foreign Correspondents Club of China Year-end Statement
Dec 9, 2013 Reviewing the conditions under which foreign reporters work in China, the FCCC is disturbed to note a number of negative trends over the past year. - In particular, we have found that the Chinese authorities are increasingly using the denial of visas, or...
FCCC statement on Chris Buckley case
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China strongly regrets that New York Times correspondent Chris Buckley has been forced to leave mainland China because of delays in his journalistic accreditation. The Chinese government has not explained its reasons for the three...
FCCC concerned by restrictions on invitations to the Standing Committee introduction
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China is dismayed that so many foreign correspondents were denied the opportunity to attend the presentation of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the new CPC Central Committee on Thursday morning. While appreciating...
Foreign Correspondents’ Clubs in China Jointly Express Extreme Concern Over Abuse of Journalists
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China, the Shanghai Foreign Correspondents' Club, and the Foreign Correspondents' Club, Hong Kong, are extremely concerned by a number of recent incidents in which international journalists have been threatened, harassed and even...
FCCC Statement on Reporting in Western Sichuan
The Chinese authorities have set up a massive security cordon in an attempt to prevent journalists from entering Tibetan areas in Western Sichuan Province where major unrest – including killings and self-immolations – has been reported. The FCCC considers this a clear...
FCC Hong Kong Statement on Beating of Hong Kong Reporters in Beijing
Mr Stephen Lam Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs 3rd floor Main and East Wing Central Government Offices Dear Mr Lam, The Foreign Correspondents' Club, Hong Kong, condemns the attack upon Hong Kong journalists in Beijing on Friday by some 30 people...
FCCC Tibet Survey and Statement
China Should Allow Access To Tibetan Areas
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China urges the Chinese government to halt a wave of detentions of journalists and open Tibetan areas for news coverage. Reporters from at least six news organisation have been detained, turned back or had their tapes confiscated in...
Government Should Stop Intimidating Assistants Of Foreign Media
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China is appalled at the tightening of restrictions on Chinese news assistants who have been told they will be fined and stripped of accreditations if they conduct independent interviews. The club calls for the scrapping of a new...
FCCC Letter On Premier’s News Conference
The following is a letter from FCCC President Jonathan Watts to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. --------------- Attn: Mr. Ma Zhaoxu News Department Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dear Mr. Ma Zhaoxu, On behalf of the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China, whose...
FCCC Urges Withdrawal Of Restrictions On HK Journalists
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China is concerned by the rules made public on February 6, 2009 requiring reporters based in Hong Kong and Macau to obtain a permit from the Chinese government prior to every reporting trip to mainland China. The new rules mark a...
FCCC Notes Apology, Partial Redress For Henan Beating
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China notes the steps taken by the authorities in Henan to make amends for the beating of a Belgian TV journalist. Tom van de Weghe of VRT received a letter of apology from the perpetrators and partial compensation for being stopped...
Government Must Punish Thugs Who Beat Up Belgian TV Crew
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China is appalled by the violent attack on the Belgian TV crew and calls on the central government to track down and punish those responsible. "This illegal and brutal act is a disgrace to Henan and to China," said Jonathan Watts,...
FCCC Welcomes Agreement On Financial Information
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China welcomes the Chinese government's agreement to establish an independent regulator for foreign providers of financial information, which include the major global news agencies operating in China. Depending on the degree of...
FCCC Welcomes New Rules For Foreign Media
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China welcomes the announcement of new reporting regulations that recognize the right of foreign reporters to travel where they wish without prior permission and to interview anyone who is willing. "If properly implemented, we...
FCCC Calls For Openness In New Rules
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China urges the government to build an Olympic legacy by enshrining the pledge of openness in new rules for foreign correspondents. In keeping with China's efforts to become a more open society, we urge the government to recognize...
China Fails To Make Olympic Podium On Media Freedom
As the Beijing Olympics draws to a close, the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China urges the government to move decisively to make media openness a legacy of the Games. Despite welcome progress in terms of accessibility and the number of press conferences within the...
FCCC Launches Know Your Rights Campaign
As the 2008 Beijing Games open, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China urges China to make good on its Olympic promise of an open reporting environment, to put a stop to violence against foreign reporters, and to better enforce its own laws and regulations. The...
Detentions Tarnish China’s Free Reporting Pledge
As China enters the year of the Beijing Olympics, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) has identified hot spots where journalists have experienced repeated violations of China’s new reporting regulations. "While the year-old regulations have improved...