China Development Brief editor responds to publication shut-down
By Leah McBride Mensching, Tuesday 24 July 2007 at 00:03 :: Press Freedom & Laws :: #298 :: rss
A dozen officials from Beijing ordered the China Development Brief to stop publication July 4, and charged the editor, Nick Young, with conducting “unauthorized surveys” in contravention of the 1983 Statistics Law, Young has said in a statement.
Young said in a New York Times article that the publication did not conduct surveys or polls, and that the 1983 law is so vague it can be used to prohibit any type of information-gathering involving citizens.
Young founded the publication in Beijing in 1995 with a staff of 11 people who monitored news relating to social issues. The brief published Chinese and English language editions, both available in print and online.
“I have spent the last decade telling foreigners that China is not as repressive and totalitarian as Western media often portray it to be. I have always been able to cite the example of China Development Brief,” Young said in a statement.
According to the Times, the Brief did not have a license to publish in China, and its staff members werenot registered as news correspondents. Young said although security officers had always closely watched the Brief, it was allowed to publish continuously because it was understood that providing objective information to foreign agencies was in China's best interest.
Young has appealed to international donor agencies including the United Nations, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, all of whom the Brief counts as subscribers, to raise support for the publication.
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