It followed an unauthorised press conference by members of the Reporters Without Borders campaign group, who called for the release of about 100 journalists, online dissidents and free speech activists who are imprisoned in China. After the event, uniformed and plain-clothed police physically prevented foreign journalists from leaving the area, in some cases for more than an hour, according to reporters present. “If this is going to be the behaviour for the rest of the time until the Olympics, then I think China will be paying a rather high price in terms of its international image,†said Jocelyn Ford, a journalist who was covering the event.
No, not necessarily. It isn’t necessarily China that will pay a high price. If we become complicit in this behavior, putting a tacit stamp of acceptance on it, then we’re the ones who will pay a high price.
Financial times article:Â China ‘breaks promise’ on media
One way to get started on paying that price is to do things like putting the words “break promise” in quotes in the headlines. That’s a way of disdaining any responsibility for our own behavior.