(TibetanReview.net, Jul20’26) – While Chinese journalists roam free across the world, foreign journalists in China continue to operate amidst surveillance, administrative pressure, obstacles to reporting, and an environment where sources are increasingly cautious, according to the latest report released by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) Jul 13.
A total of 89 FCCC members have participated in this survey, representing media outlets from Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. However, fearing retaliation, the majority of the journalists surveyed preferred to remain anonymous, the FCCC has said.
The report, titled “The New Abnormal,” shows that 94% of the journalists surveyed believe that current reporting conditions in China do “not usually” or “almost never” meet international standards. And 38% have said the reporting environment in China “almost never” meets international standards, while 56% have said it “usually” does not.
Not a single surveyed respondent believed that the news-gathering environment in China “usually” or “almost always” meets international standards.
Politically sensitive topics, including Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, and criticism of the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) top leadership, continue to be seen to be subject to major constraints on foreign journalists’ reporting.
Sixty-four percent of respondents have said they had encountered obstruction by the Chinese police or other officials at least once in 2025.
The FCCC has said that such interference is no longer limited to traditionally sensitive regions such as Xinjiang and Tibet, for Journalists have reported encountering obstacles when covering routine social issues—such as local development, business operations, or matters affecting people’s livelihoods.
The scope of sensitive topics in China is seen to be expanding. “Long-standing political red lines remain firmly in place, while economic, technological, and social issues are also becoming more sensitive,” the report reads.
The survey shows that 47% of the journalists interviewed believe new sensitive issues have emerged over the past year, including China’s demographic issues, the overall Chinese economic situation, youth unemployment, the real estate crisis, US–China trade conflicts, as well as rare earth elements and emerging technologies.
Journalists surveyed have also raised concerns over digital surveillance, visa delays, and legal threats linked to their reporting. Pressure on Sources and Chinese Employees.
Seventy-seven percent of the journalists surveyed have said sources in China had refused or cancelled interviews, citing reasons such as “can’t talk to foreign journalists.” Thirty-two percent have reported that their sources had faced questioning, threats, or other negative consequences for giving interviews to foreign media.
“It’s very hard to get interviews with state and local officials or business leaders. Many times the answer is that ‘we don’t/can’t talk to foreign journalists.’ Endless ping-ponging from one official to another to have permissions to interview or visit a site,” the survey has quoted one Beijing-based foreign correspondent as saying.
Some Chinese employees of foreign journalists have been summoned for “tea”—a euphemism for questioning—by the police or state security agencies, and were required to disclose details regarding interviews conducted by foreign journalists and their work schedules.
The FCCC has said that “restrictions were described not as isolated incidents, but as part of a broader reporting environment shaped by surveillance, administrative pressure, and increasing caution among sources and institutions.”
The FCCC has summarized: “The survey responses suggest that restrictions on reporting are no longer experienced as isolated incidents, but as a routine feature of the reporting landscape. For many correspondents, this has become the new abnormal.”
China ranks 178th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index published by Paris-based Reporters Without Borders in 2026, only higher than North Korea and Eritrea.
(based on theepochtimes.com report Jul 16, 2026.)