Chinese Communist Party Incites Manhunt of BBC Journalists Covering Henan Floods

Journalists reporting in China on behalf of the BBC have been subject to violent death threats and harassment following the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “call for citizens to post comments on the whereabouts of a team covering the flood in Henan province.”

BBC reporters and other foreign media entities are currently working in the central Chinese province of Henan to cover the devastating floods that have so far killed 71 people. Reportedly, correspondents from other news organisations were approached by “angry” Chinese citizens following the Communist Youth League of Henan’s call for its 1.6 million followers on the Chinese social media site Weibo to “report the whereabouts of BBC Shanghai reporter Robin Brant.”

With the hashtag ‘#BBCSlander’ trending on Chinese social media, social media users have also called on locals to attack reporters, with one writing: 

“When you meet them, hammer them to death; hammer them until their grandmothers can’t recognise them.” 

Another Chinese poster wrote that hundreds of people were on the lookout for the BBC journalists and anyone who attacked the journalists would be a “hero,” adding that  “everyone is competing for the first kill!”

Posting on Twitter, a German TV reporter for Deutsche Welle, Mathias Bölinger, recalled how he and another reporter were by residents in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan, after he was mistaken for Robin Brant. 

“They kept pushing me, yelling that I was a bad guy and that I should stop smearing China. One guy tried to snatch my phone. What I did not know at the time was that a manhunt was on after @robindbran. There is a vicious campaign against the @BBCNews in nationalistic circles and state media.”

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC), a professional association of Beijing-based journalists representing more than 40 nations, condemned the developments and called on the CCP to ensure the safety of foreign journalists. 

“The FCCC is disappointed and dismayed at the growing hostility against foreign media in China, a sentiment underpinned by rising Chinese nationalism sometimes directly encouraged by Chinese officials and official entities. The censorship of foreign media in China has contributed to a one-sided view of our work in China. The FCCC is especially alarmed at the threats levied against our Chinese colleagues. Online, critics have falsely accused them of espionage and treason and sent them threatening messages - simply because of their valuable work for foreign media organizations. The FCCC calls on the Chinese government to uphold its promise to allow foreign journalists unfettered access to report in China’s regions and to maintain its responsibility to protect people’s safety.”

Speaking to The Telegraph, Stephen McDonell, the BBC’s China correspondent, said that the threat of violence and personal family-targeted abuse sent to the private phones of those working in the foreign media had been “part of a clearly orchestrated campaign of harassment” against the BBC initiated by “organs of the Communist Party.” Meanwhile, the BBC has demanded the Chinese government take immediate action.

“Over the weekend a social media post by a part of the Chinese Communist Party called on citizens to post comments on the whereabouts of a BBC team covering the floods in Henan Province. The public comments below the post included death threats against our team. Journalists from other media organisations reporting in Henan were subsequently confronted by an angry crowd looking for the BBC team. There must be immediate action by the Chinese government to stop these attacks which continue to endanger foreign journalists.”