Defending Press Freedom | Press freedom watchdog calls for release of reporter in China

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called for the release of Chinese independent journalist Huang Xueqin, who covered the Hong Kong protests and was arrested on October 17 in Guangzhou.

In a statement this week, RSF said Huang, also known under the name of Sophia Huang, covered the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong last summer and the #MeToo movement in 2018.

She was arrested at her home for “making trouble and picking quarrels”, an accusation RSF said is often used by the regime against journalists and carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

“Huang bravely addressed societal topics that are of the highest importance for the Chinese public and should never have been apprehended,” insisted Cédric Alviani, RSF East-Asia bureau head, who requested “her immediate release and that of all other journalists detained in China”.

Huang, 30, originally planned to go back to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as a graduate law student but had her travel documents confiscated in August.

RSF said China is the largest prison in the world for journalists with at least 120 detainees and ranks 177th out of 180 countries and territories in the RSF World Press Freedom Ranking 2019.