China remains one of the world’s largest jailers of journalists, with at least 30 print and 58 cyber reporters currently behind bars. Over half of the cases involve journalists who were jailed on vague anti-state charges. Most trials result in lengthy prison sentences, often under harsh conditions.

The 2007 WAN-IFRA Golden Pen of Freedom laureate, journalist Shi Tao, remains in prison on a 10-year sentence handed down in 2005, and has had his appeal rejected without a hearing. Shi Tao was charged with “revealing state secrets to foreigners” by sending an e-mail that was traced to his Yahoo account.

More recently, Guo Quan, a writer and political activist, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on 16 October 2009 on charges of "subversion of state power".

China has consistently failed to honour its Olympic human rights promises, has introduced new regulations in 2009 restricting foreign media’s access to Chinese-based assistants, and has created an official “blacklist” of Chinese journalists. In addition, the government instructed Chinese journalists working for foreign media to report only positive stories. In April, journalists were barred from entering Dujiangyuan city to report on the one-year anniversary of the deadly Sichuan earthquake.

Authorities in China have increased efforts to censor online publications, blocking websites including Twitter and Facebook and targeting blogs and websites that report on human rights and democracy. A new accreditation system for journalists was introduced by the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) on 15 October, which denies accreditation to all journalists who work outside the editorial departments of so-called traditional media.

The Board of WAN-IFRA calls on Chinese authorities to stop the campaign of intimidation, harassment and prosecution of those who dare speak openly and report independently, to allow media to report on all issues free from state influence, and to fully respect international standards of freedom of expression.