USA TODAY latest to be subject to China review
USA TODAY has become the latest newspaper to come under pressure from Chinese authorities seeking to control the flow of information into the country.
Late Wednesday, China's government-controlled distributor for imported newspapers requested that an electronic version of USA TODAY's international print product be submitted for review prior to its shipment from Hong Kong.
About a quarter of USA TODAY's print circulation in Asia goes into China. Failure to send a PDF to the state-run China National Publications Import & Export Corporation, or CNPIEC, will result in the paper being held, and reviewed, for a day prior to distribution.
"We will comply with local law and supply a PDF, but under protest. The suppression of information in China will not change our editorial selection of news stories under any circumstances," David Callaway, USA TODAY's editor in chief, said in a statement.
The International New York Times, Financial Times and Wall Street Journal Asia already participate in the practice, according to Zhang Yijing, a representative from CNPIEC. The practice was introduced in 2013. Representatives from those publications in China were not immediately available for comment.
Zhang said Thursday that the practice is not intended as a censorship measure. "We just want to take a look before distribution," said Zhang. "We will not ask for any changes or revisions," she said. She did not elaborate further on why the paper was subject to review.
Beijing is known for its strict censorship program on domestic and foreign media. It issues frequent orders on which sensitive subjects to avoid and regularly filters Internet searches, blocks websites and actively works to limit its citizens' information about foreign perceptions of China. Broadcasts by foreign media firms go blank on TV screens in China whenever they feature subjects the ruling Communist Party considers taboo.
The move comes amid ongoing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, where student-led groups are seeking to overturn Beijing's decision to require screening of candidates in the city's 2017 leadership election. As part of that drive, protesters have also sought the resignation of the city's Beijing-backed leader Leung Chun-ying.
Contributing: Calum MacLeod in Beijing