MCLC: Charlie Hebdo gathering in Beijing

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Charlie Hebdo gathering in Beijing
Source: China Real Time blog, WSJ (1/9/15)
Police Shadow Journalists’ Charlie Hebdo Gathering in Beijing
By Mark Magnier
Journalists hold signs saying “I am Charlie” in French and Chinese on Thursday night at the Bookworm cafe and bookstore in Beijing. Wang Zhao/Agence France-Presse
Foreign correspondents who gathered at a Beijing bookstore on Thursday night to show support for the victims in this week’s deadly attack on a French satirical magazine came under close police scrutiny, though they were allowed to go ahead with plans to take a group photo.
The Foreign Correspondent’s Club of China is one of several media groups worldwide that have released photos on social media of members holding placards that read “I am Charlie” in French and other languages after Wednesday’s Paris attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine that killed 12 people and wounded several others.
The irreverent magazine, which was also firebombed in 2011, has published cartoons depicting Islam, Muslim clerics and the Prophet Mohammad. The groups’ photos are intended as a show of solidarity with the magazine’s employees and of defiance toward the masked gunmen’s apparent attempt to chill free speech.
FCCC President Peter Ford said he saw approximately a half dozen apparent plain clothes policemen in the crowd of over 100 foreign and Chinese reporters, including one who videotaped everyone in attendance. At least two uniformed police were also visible in the packed main room of the Bookworm and at the building’s entrance. The manager of the bookstore and café could not be reached.
Beijing’s Public Security Bureau did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
“I assume the authorities were nervous about something they might have perceived as pro-freedom of speech in a gathering that could’ve had implications for China,” Mr. Ford said. “But the purpose of the meeting was exclusively to express our sympathy for the families of the victims and others, support for the organization and our outrage at the murder of people whose opinion the attackers disagreed with.”
Photos of club members holding blue and white “I am Charlie” signs in French and Chinese were distributed on Twitter, Facebook and in an email to members.
Scrutiny of Thursday’s event, attended by China Real Time, comes amid heightened anxiety in Beijing over the influence of Western political ideas.  China in recent months has jailed or detained dozens of rights activists and lawyers, launched probes into the activities of foreign nonprofits and issued warnings through state media about the risk of “foreign forces” destabilizing the nation.
China in 2014 ranked 175 of 180 countries in a press freedom indexcompiled by the activist group Reporters Without Borders, two notches below its 2013 ranking. The FCCC said in a September position paper that foreign journalists in China, their staff and sources have seen a notable increase in threats and violence since the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The FCCC holds regular happy hours and meetings featuring guest speakers typically without attracting overt attention from the police. Some members said this event may have attracted scrutiny because it was also attended by Chinese media, possibly raising concern that the publicity could encourage local activism.
“This does touch on a sensitive issue, press freedom and freedom of expression,” said Ruth Kirchner, a China correspondent for the German ARD broadcasting group, who attended at the gathering. “They might be worried that people will use this issue with China.”
Mr. Ford, the FCCC president, said he tried to explain what the group was doing to an apparent plain clothes policeman to avoid any misunderstanding but the man declined to say whether or not he was linked to the Public Security Bureau. “He said he wasn’t interested in what we were doing, so we went ahead,” Mr. Ford said, adding that he didn’t tell the Bookworm in advance of the planned photo opportunity. “It slipped my mind,” he added.
Johnny Erling, a Beijing-based correspondent with German daily newspaper Die Welt, said Chinese police also may have been on high alert following Shanghai’s New Year’s Eve stampede that killed 36 people and injured at least 49.
“They’re really scared when there are lots of people now, that could be the most important thing,” Mr. Erling said. “They should know from our information that this has nothing to do with China.”
– Mark Magnier. Follow him on Twitter @markmagnier. 
by denton.2 at osu.edu on January 9, 2015
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