Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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         Chinese State Media: Growing Concern About Detained Journalist

   Chinese state media have reported growing concern about a journalist
   detained by police in southern China last week for his coverage of
   alleged corruption at a state-owned company.
   Chen Youngzhou disappeared last Friday in Guangzhou, where he had
   written a dozen articles for the New Express newspaper, criticizing the
   Zoomlion construction company. Zoomlion is based in the south-central
   Chinese city of Changsha.
   Chinese media said police from Changsha detained Chen in Guangzhou on
   suspicion of damaging the reputation of a business. His whereabouts are
   unknown.
   In reports published Thursday, official news agencies said the Chinese
   government`s media regulator expressed "concern" about the fate of the
   journalist.
   U.S.-based rights group, the Committee to Protect Journalists, told VOA
   it is watching the case with "great interest."
   Speaking by phone from Princeton, CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Bob
   Dietz said China`s central government has a reason to sympathize with
   Chen and be critical of the local authorities who detained him.
   "In this instance you`re looking at a reporter who uncovered
   corruption, which the government says it`s doing on its own anyway. And
   you`re seeing the criticism of this move come from the national
   organizations, from the central government, not from the local
   authorities who are more beholden to the company officials."
   Dietz said the disappearance of Chen appears to be a case of a
   Changsha-based state-owned company colluding with Changsha police to
   retaliate against the Guangzhou newspaper.
   He also said China`s central government media censors do not perceive
   Chen`s reporting to be as much of a threat as the work of some online
   citizen journalists.
   "What you`re looking at are journalists or writers who take one step
   beyond doing journalism and start to approach activism or organizing
   people or starting to build a bigger movement or are part of a bigger
   movement already. A large number of the people we`re seeing arrested
   are either Uighur or Tibetan bloggers - part of that Uighur
   dissatisfaction, that Tibetan drive for either independence or greater
   autonomy - and that`s what the government finds intolerable."
   The New Express began protesting Chen`s arrest on Wednesday, by
   publishing a front-page message in large characters saying "Release
   Him, Please." It followed up on Thursday with a similar front-page
   plea, saying "Again We Ask For His Release."
   Acts of protest by Chinese newspapers are rare because state
   authorities often censor stories that they fear could cause social
   instability.
   CPJ`s Dietz said local newspapers such as New Express are part of an
   institutional network of organizations that tend to have more freedom
   to operate than people realize.
   "They have a dedicated readership, they meet a need, and I think you
   have a lot of pressure from the media consuming public, the mainstream
   media consuming public, to deliver good news or to do good reporting.
   And I think the government at some point has to respect that."
   Chen`s reports in the New Express claimed Zoomlion artificially
   inflated its profits, which the company said amounted to $7.6 billion
   last year. The company denies the accusation.
   Zoomlion is listed on the Hong Kong and Shenzhen stock exchanges. Its
   share price fell almost 6 percent in Hong Kong on Wednesday, when the
   New Express published its first protest message.
   Chinese police have told state media that Chen fabricated facts about
   Zoomlion`s finances in the stories, written between September 2012 and
   August 2013. The New Express has said it investigated Chen`s reporting
   and only found one minor factual flaw.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/chinese-state-media-growing-concern-a
   bout-detained-journalist/1776570.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/chinese-state-media-growing-concern-about-detained-journalist/1776570.html