CHINA muzzled watchdog, foreign journos expelled

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For all the very legitimate complaints about the democratic deficit that the billionaire, conglomerate private ownership of UK, US, Italian and other Western press industries creates, and the weak regulation of these corporate mouthpieces, the situation in China (and Hong Kong) is starkly worse.

The expulsion of a French journalist from China this week sparked worldwide headlines, though little real protest as the Western powers grovel for a share of Chinese trade and investment, and seek to avoid upsetting a touchy Chinese regime. The classic Fawlty Towers line of "don't mention the war" (to a German customer) becomes don't mention Tianamen ... or Tibet ... or pretty much anything that will risk upsetting the economically powerful regime.

Delve into this report and you'll find details of papers closing, punished for being too liberal, journalists quitting en masse as their freedom to report shrinks under an authoritarian new president, one jailed for 7 sarcastic tweets, Hong Kong's press seeing ownership switch to regime supporting hands, in apparent breach of the treaty with the UK ...

China's young reporters give up on journalism: 'You can't write what you want' http://gu.com/p/4ffz5?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger