September 23th 2014
Xilin, Yichun
The reporter from The Guardian was talking to residents on the streets of Yichun about the state of the local economy. She was approached by plainclothes police, who showed identification, and taken to the police station. It was evident that they had been looking for the reporter for some time as one of the officers radioed: “We’ve found them”. It emerged that they had also spoken to the taxi driver, who was from out of town. They would not explain why The Guardian was being taken to the police station except to say that they needed to check on all foreign friends visiting the town. At the station she was accused of breaking the law by failing to register her presence. She pointed out that she had registered at the hotel they stayed at in Yichun as required. The main officer then claimed that foreign journalists were required by law to register at the police station of anywhere they planned to do interviews in advance. She was allowed to leave after around 40 minutes in detention.