China tightens law on handling disasters including information flows
- In Reports
- 12:04 PM, Jun 29, 2024
- Myind Staff
China has increased regulations on managing accidents and disasters, imposing stricter penalties on authorities that respond inadequately and enhancing government oversight of media coverage during emergencies.
Legal revisions announced late on Friday are designed to "improve the ability for emergency prevention and response" and improve the dissemination of information regarding natural disasters, accidents, and public health emergencies.
According to some media analysts, government guidance on news coverage could further tighten media restrictions and access in a country that is already vigilant against reports that might jeopardise social stability and security.
In recent years, an increase in extreme weather events has tested China's emergency responses, with the country experiencing more severe floods and droughts. Disasters such as earthquakes have also posed significant challenges for local officials in remote and rural areas.
The revisions to the Emergency Response Law, effective from 1st November, increase the maximum fine for inadequate preparation or response to disasters five-fold, raising it to 1 million yuan ($140,000).
Official guidance over news coverage will be tightened. The law calls for an enhanced "news interviewing and reporting system" for emergencies but does not give specific guidelines.
Government departments must "guide" news media and "support" them in conducting interviews and reporting, as well as "conduct supervision" on public opinion.
The revised law states that news of emergencies should be "timely, accurate, objective, and fair," with prompt emergency warnings. Designated personnel should be appointed to receive and disseminate warning information to the public and crowded areas.
"The stated purpose is to increase accuracy and objectivity of information, but the new law further monopolises state control over information flows," said Katja Drinhausen, head of the politics and society programme at European think tank Mercator Institute for China Studies.
Jemimah Steinfeld, the CEO of UK-based Index on Censorship, stated that the revisions make terms for journalists reporting on emergencies even more prescriptive. Passed by the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress, the revisions add more than 30 provisions to the 2007 law.
The law prohibits government agencies from instructing others to delay, falsely report, or conceal information, or from obstructing others from reporting.
In the past, delayed responses from officials in managing disasters have led to public backlash.
A hospital fire that killed 29 people in Beijing last year sparked online debate, as official news reports only emerged eight hours after the incident.
Additionally, residents in Zhuozhou complained last year about receiving no warnings and authorities "disappearing" as unprecedented floods inundated the northern city.
Under the legal revisions, foreigners in China will be required to comply with the law and adhere to local government decisions and orders.
"Overall, this points to the need for foreigners living and working in China, media outlets as well as international businesses with a presence in the country, to pay close attention to the emerging regulatory system around crisis preparedness, as well as the political expectations in case of emergency," said Drinhausen.
Foreign reporters sometimes encounter grassroots resistance and even obstruction while gathering news on the ground about accidents and disasters.
In 2021, a German journalist was targeted by an angry crowd while reporting on floods in the central city of Zhengzhou, accusing foreign journalists of "slandering everything in China," according to German media outlet DW.
Journalists from Chinese state media have also been harassed.
In March, reporters from the state broadcaster and other media were blocked and shoved while covering a blast at a fried chicken shop in Sanhe, a city next to Beijing. This incident prompted the domestic association overseeing Chinese journalists to issue a rare statement of protest.
Image source: Reuters
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