Chinese authorities sack, detain 3 police officers after reporter beating

Reporter was attacked by plain-clothes officers in Guizhou as he was investigating two local deaths
Authorities investigate and offer public apology after incident sparked anger on social media

Corruption in China

Yuanyue Dangin Beijing

Published: 6:00pm, 1 Jun 2023

Why you can trust SCMP

Three police officers in the southwestern province of Guizhou have been removed from duty and detained after being accused of beating up a reporter who had been investigating a deadly accident, local authorities said on Thursday.

A statement on the Bijie municipal government website said one of the men was a local police station deputy, while the other two were auxiliary police officers.

“We sincerely accept the criticism of the community and apologise to the reporter, to the news media and to society,” it said.

The brutal attack against a reporter was a rare instance in which authorities confirmed the involvement of personnel employed by the government. Chinese authorities usually attempt to keep unflattering information out of the news through censorship in media outlets.

Former Guangdong police chief under investigation for corruption

According to the statement, the journalist, surnamed Li, had been assigned to cover a story about an accident that killed two teachers for Jimu News, an online media outlet affiliated with the official Hubei Daily.

While in the town of Machang on Monday, Li noticed that he was being followed and started recording video. After approaching the vehicle, the three men inside the car – who were not wearing police uniforms and did not identify themselves – started to beat Li and tried to stop him from recording. Li suffered facial injuries, and his mobile phone and glasses were damaged, the statement said.

The three men who beat Li worked for a local police station – one, surnamed Xiong, was the deputy chief, while the other two were auxiliary police officers, the local government said.

Xiong has been removed from his post and transferred out of the public security system. The two auxiliary police officers have been dismissed. The town’s mayor has also been removed from his post.

Xiong and one of the auxiliary police officers have been placed in administrative detention for 20 days, the maximum allowed, while the other officer was placed in administrative detention for 15 days.

02:05

Trial begins for 3 suspected Chinese agents accused of harassing US-based fugitive

Administrative detention means that the local authorities do not believe that the three men violated criminal law, and they will not face criminal charges.

After Li’s ordeal sparked anger on social media on Wednesday, the local authorities said they would investigate the incident.

On April 13, the two teachers, from a secondary school in the county of Zhijin in the city of Bijie, drowned while collecting pebbles on a river bank after a hydroelectric power station upstream suddenly released water.

Former Chinese justice minister, police boss jailed for life for corruption

The incident, which is under investigation, received renewed media attention in late May when reporters contacted the families of the victims. Li was one of the journalists who travelled to the area to investigate the story.

According to a report in The Paper, a media outlet based in Shanghai, Li arrived in Zhijin on Monday and was travelling to a village in Machang where the victim’s family live when he was beaten.

After the attack, the three police officers returned to the scene to wipe their fingerprints from a car door handle, the report said.