Watch-out for all Chinese journalists, whether with a politics beat or else. A photojournalist who was shooting a beauty contest held at the Congress Hall of the People in Beijing was beaten presumably by guards. Paparazzi and fashion photographers may find a hard life by having to squeeze themselves into awkward corners or positions for a couple of selling shots. And now they may find their life is on the line too. See a EastSouthWestNorth blog post:
At around 3:50pm yesterday, Oriental Daily reporter Weng Huo went to Beijing People’s Congress Great Hall with his photography equipment to cover the 46th Miss International Contest.¬† Weng joined several other similarly credentialed reporters to film the Miss International contestants rehearsing on stage.¬† Suddenly, several men dressed in black came and ordered the reporters to leave.¬† The men said that the reporters were too close to the contestants and they began to push the reporters back with their hands.¬† The experienced Weng back-pedaled up and told the men in black that he needed to retrieve his camera lens by the stage.¬† But the men refused and began to curse him.¬† As Weng tried to plead with them, someone yanked his column from behind and he went down on the floor as his eyeglasses flew off.¬† The men dragged him into a corner away from the other reporters and pummeled his head, temples and face.¬† The beating stopped only after someone yelled: “Stop the beating.¬† The guests will be arriving soon!”¬† Afterwards, Weng stumbled out into the streets where his colleagues found him and took him to the hospital.
– Also Yahoo China’s original story (Chinese)
