In July we and several other media outlets reported on the closure of the China Development Brief, a non-profit newsletter based in Beijing that focused on NGOs, development and civil society. At the time the government’s move to shut down the publication–officially due to a violation of a law on conducting surveys–was seen as a result of official sensitivity to the power NGOs and their role in the “color revolutions” in Eastern Europe. China Development Brief founder Nick Young thought the closure might have been the work of mid-level government officials, and was hoping to appeal to higher powers to get the decision reversed. In an article for the Christian Science Monitor he describes what happened next, an effort to turn the publication into a government mouthpiece:
“You can be the government of China’s friend or our enemy; there is no other way.”
This chilling message – and it is a direct quote – was delivered to me in Beijing this summer by an apparently high-ranking Chinese security official who would tell me only his surname: Song. He was, he said, “in charge of watching terrorism and NGOs,” and he was offering me a real, not theoretical, choice. I could become an elite propagandist for China, or I would have to leave the country, where I had lived continuously for 12 years, and would never be allowed back.
On Sept. 26, after spending several weeks in Europe, I returned to Beijing and found that Mr. Song had spoken in earnest. Immigration authorities barred my entry, put me back on the plane to Helsinki, Finland, and canceled my multientry visa.