A Caixin editorial discusses the case of Qiu Ziming, an Economic Observer (经济观察) reporter who was put on an online “most wanted list” for writing a series of investigative reports:
The reporter had come perilously close to criminal detention simply for writing a critical business story. And the incident reflected blatant power abuse as well as glaring disrespect by security officials toward an individual reporter, press freedom and the public’s right to know.
The incident also raised serious questions about the relationship between police authority and the media’s function as a public watchdog.
A citizen’s basic freedoms are undermined when he or she is wrongly arrested or detained. That’s why arrest warrants are not to be taken lightly. In China, a warrant can only be approved by a procuratorate or court. So even if Suichang security officials had clear evidence that Qiu had damaged the company’s reputation, they could not move in without first getting a prosecutor’s approval for an arrest warrant.
Public security officials got around these arrest warrant restrictions by launching the web hunt. They had opened the case May 20. But having failed to communicate with the newspaper or reporter, the investigation was still incomplete two months later. Technically, Qiu could not have been arrested. Nevertheless, the accusations were posted on the Internet, apparently in an attempt to intimidate the reporter.
