The International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists for press freedom, today called on Chinese authorities to provide information on the location and condition of two missing citizen journalists who had been covering the coronavirus epidemic. IPI also urged the authorities to ensure that journalists are able to cover the events related to the outbreak without fear of reprisal.
The two citizen journalists, Chen Qiushi and Fang Bin, who had been reporting from Wuhan, the central Chinese city at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, went missing earlier this month.
Chen Qiushi, a 34-year-old human rights lawyer, had been reporting on social media from Wuhan, where he reportedly travelled to with the last train before the city was placed under state-imposed lockdown with widespread travel restrictions. Qiushi from hospitals, funeral parlors and makeshift isolation wards in videos he posted . He was last heard from on Thursday, February 6.
On Friday, the day after Qiushi鈥檚 disappearance, his mother posted on his Twitter in which she said her son was unreachable and asked for help in finding him. Later the same day, according to reports, Qiushi鈥檚 friend said posted on Qiushi鈥檚 YouTube channel that the citizen journalist had been for 14 days, considered to be the maximum incubation period for the virus. The friend said the journalist had shown no signs of infection.
Fang Bin, a 47-year-old Wuhan businessman, began posting about the spread of coronavirus in Wuhan on social media on January 25, according to reports. On February 1, after posting a video showing eight corpses piled in a minibus outside a hospital in Wuhan, Bin was and interrogated before being released. However, on February 9 Bin was again and his YouTube channel went silent after he had posted a short video with words 鈥渁ll people revolt 鈥� 聽hand the power of the government back to the people鈥�. His current whereabouts are unknown.
Chinese authorities any official statement regarding the location and condition of the missing citizen journalists, or if they have been put into quarantine. , filming inside a hospital and sharing non-official information about coronavirus is forbidden. The government and state media tightly control what is published about the outbreak.
鈥淐hina should provide information on the whereabouts and condition of Chen Qiushi and Fang Bin鈥�, IPI Deputy Director Scott Griffen said. 鈥淲e urge officials to stop any harassment of journalists and citizens covering the coronavirus outbreak. In providing relevant information to the public and to the authorities, freedom of the press is a friend, not a foe, in efforts to contain the outbreak.鈥�