UN Authority Figures

U.N. Committee on Information: China

"Zhao Yan, a Chinese journalist jailed while working for the New York Times, is greeted by friends and relatives after he was released from the state security prison in Beijing September 15, 2007. Zhao, who reported on citizens' rights and official abuses, was given three years' jail for fraud in August 2006 - a charge he denied." (Reuters photo, September 15, 2007)

Mission of the Committee on Information: "...To promote the establishment of a new, more just and more effective world information and communication order intended to strengthen peace and international understanding and based on the free circulation and wider and better-balanced dissemination of information and to make recommendations thereon to the General Assembly." (Committee on Information web-site, "Background Information")

China's Term of office: 1984 - (P.2, Para 4)

China's Record on Freedom of Information:
"Conditions in...China, deteriorated slightly in 2008...[T]he authorities on the whole tightened the reins on both domestic journalists and internet portals, while employing more sophisticated techniques to manipulate online content and blocking access to Tibetan areas. Journalists who did not adhere to party dictates continued to be harassed, fired, or jailed, and the year also featured the first murder of a citizen journalist in the country. In addition...the government imposed a three-month suspension on Caijing (China Business Post), a commercial newspaper known for its relatively daring reporting." (Freedom House "Press Freedom in 2008: Restrictive laws and physical attacks fuel further declines")