As financial analysts point to disappointing purchasing data to explain the collapse of Chinese equities in recent days, Chinese authorities have found someone else to blame â business journalists.
Wang Xiaolu, a reporter for business magazine Caijing, was arrested on August 25 for "fabricating and spreading false information about securities and futures trading". He has since confessed on state television to writing a "sensationalised" story about the stock market that created "panic and disorder" among investors.
The article in question, published on July 20, said the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the country's financial regulator, was considering stopping interventions to stabilise stock prices. The CSRC denied the claims in the article, which it said were irresponsible, and blamed the article for a fall in prices on July 27 that foreshadowed recent, deeper falls. Caijing removed the story from its website last week.
Reporters Without Borders, which campaigns for press freedom, called for Wang Xiaolu to be freed immediately without charge.
"As well as ridiculous, the accusations against Wang are symptomatic of the Chinese government's desire to control media coverage of share price movements," says Christophe Deloire, secretary-general of Reporters Without Borders. "Suggesting that a business journalist was responsible for the spectacular fall in share prices is a denial of reality."
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