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WORLD NEWS Friday 23 November 2018

Chinese reporter wins rare police apology for harassment

By ERIKA KINETZ C9 leaked into the sea off
Associated Press Quanzhou.
SHANGHAI (AP) — The Dozens of residents fell sick,
young woman is panting, and scores of fish died. Lo-
panicked, her thin arm cal residents complained
pointing at four men in po- that officials mishandled
lice uniforms who had let the cleanup and tried to
themselves into her hotel cover up the extent of the
room near midnight. damage.
"You cannot treat me like Zhou went to investigate.
this," she shouts, her voice On Nov. 11, after a long
high and reeling. "You can- day of reporting, she was in
not barge in like this late at bed, in her pajamas, look-
night, OK? I didn't do any- ing at her phone when she
thing illegal." heard a keycard unlocking
The men, one carrying a the door of her hotel room.
pair of thin white plastic re- It was 11:30 p.m.
straints, tell her they are do- "You barged in like this
ing a "routine inspection," when I'm not even properly
according to a video of dressed," Zhou shouts in the
the Nov. 11 incident seen video. "Could you please
by The Associated Press. leave immediately?"
Only there was nothing The men demanded her ID.
routine about this. Their An online post by the Quanzhou police detailing the investigation and an apology for an incident They did a cursory search
target was Zhou Chen, an where police personnel let themselves Into the hotel room of Zhou Chen, an environmental of the room, flipping the
environmental reporter for reporter for Caixin, seen on computer screens in Beijing, China, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018. curtains back and forth,
Caixin, one of China's most Associated Press and warned her to watch
respected business media ularly tailed and harassed ogy from the police. munist Party is eager to out for her safety.
groups. She was on a re- by local authorities, but few Reporters Without Borders suppress information that Zhou's account of her ter-
porting trip to Quanzhou, a Chinese reporters publicly ranks China 176 out of 180 might contribute to social rifying night was published
city in southeastern China's discuss the details. Zhou in its World Press Freedom instability, while local of- Monday in Caixin Weekly,
Fujian province, to investi- broke the silence about Index and says more than ficials often try to interfere part of the Caixin Media
gate a petrochemical leak her harassment in an ar- 50 journalists and bloggers with reporting on sensitive group.
that sickened more than 50 ticle published this week, are detained "in conditions topics. The police search capped
people. prompting an outcry on so- that pose a threat to their On Nov. 4, around 7 tons a day of bullying, accord-
Journalists in China are reg- cial media and a rare apol- lives." China's ruling Com- of the petroleum derivative ing to her article. q