China blocks Reuters and Wall Street Journal sites

Reporters Without Borders firmly condemns China’s censorship of the Chinese sites of Reuters and the Wall Street Journal, revealed today by Great Fire China, a site that monitors website blocking. “This latest blocking of foreign media websites is indicative of an almost Pavlovian reflex on the part of the government, which does not hesitate to flout freedom of information whenever an embarrassing news item is posted online,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The authorities have every interest in ending website blocking as it is counter-productive and contrary to China’s constitution principles.” Several media have linked the blocking of the Reuters and Wall Street Journal sites to reports of links between JP Morgan Chase and former Prime Minister Wen Jiabao’s daughter Wen Ruchun, who operates as a consultant under the name of Lily Chang. The New York Times broke the story yesterday. Reuters picked it up and it then spread online. China is on the Reporters Without Borders list of “Enemies of the Internet” and is ranked 173rd out of 179 countries in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index. Read the Reuters article in Chinese here.