Follow us on TWITTER: http://twitter.com/cnforbiddennews Like us on FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/chinaforbiddennews Chen Yongzhou, reporter for Guangzhou's New Express Daily, was recently arrested by public security officers in Changsha city, Hunan Province. Chen was accused of "damaging business interests." New Express Daily's front page appealed to the authorities to release him. Currently, there are disputes over the so-called accusation of 'damaging business interests'. The authorities' arrest of Chen before any trial also leads to questions on the background of the Hunan listed machinery making company Zoomlion Co. Hunan police arrested and charged Guangzhou New Express Daily reporter Chen Yongzhou for "damaging business interests" New Express Daily wrote on its front page on October 23rd: "We carefully checked Chen Yongzhou's 15 editorials on Zoomlion, and found out the only error was that he wrote 'advertising and entertainment expenses of 513 million yuan' as 'advertising expenses of 513 million yuan ($84 million).'" On September 26, 2012 New Express Daily published Chen's first article titled "Zoomlion Used Great financial skills to Inflate Profits by 700 million Yuan in Half a Year." By June, 2013, Chen had published 15 articles on Zoomlion, including stories about transfer of benefits, deformed marketing, and suspected fraud, etc. Chen also used his real name when he reported Zoomlion to Hong Kong's Stock Exchange and it's Securities Regulatory Commission, and China's Securities Regulatory Commission. Originally a state-owned enterprise, Zoomlion was listed in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2000 and 2010 respectively. Its 2010 sales revenue was 46.323 billion yuan. However, some reporters questioned whether Chen had accepted money from Zoomlion's competitors. In this regard, New Express Daily issued a statement that there is no violation of journalistic ethics or law in Chen's reports on Zoomlion. One of New Express Daily's head said in a statement, "We welcome Zoomlion to negotiate with us via normal channels if there are issues with Chen's report. They can take us to court. If we lose, we would pay for the damages or shutdown according to the verdict." This head also said, "New Express Daily's major principle in handling this issue is to follow the legal process." Accordingly to sources, Zoomlion reported to Changsha police on September 16, 2013. On October 15, Changsha police issued the "Cyber Pursuit order." Chen did not know about it. On October 17, Chen received a phone call from Guangzhou police asking for more information. On October 18, accompanied by his wife, Chen went to the police station. He was taken away immediately by Changshan police as a "suspect." On October 19, Chen's wife received a call from her husband saying he was being detained. On October 23, Changsha Public Security explained to media its interprovincial detention of Chen. The given reason given was that Chen fabricated lies, published negative articles about Zoomlion, and damaged Zoomlion's reputataion. However, the Changsha Public Security Bureau's statement not only resulted in strong protest from New Express Daily, but also lead to questions from China's Journalist Association and professionals in China's legal circles. Recently, dozens of lawyers across China formed the Lawyer Observation Group and expressed their dissatisfaction over Changsha police's holding Chen in custody. A Netizen: "Basically I think he is doing his job. This is a civil dispute. The police should not get involved. It is a dispute between two enterprises. If there is volition of rights, they can go to court. There should be not involvement from the police." Fan Yijin, dean Jinan University's School of Journalism and Communication, was the former chairman of Guangdong Provincial Association of Journalists. He said that if the police have evidence of Chen's alleged extortion or bribery, they could detain him in name of these. They should not "arrest him without trial." Sources say Zoomlion President Zhan Chunxin is the son of former President of the Hunan Supreme Court, and son-in-law of former Hunan First Deputy Party Secretary. One Zoomlion Board of Director assistant (who wished to remain unknown) says the case has gained attention from the central government. The Central Disciplinary and Propaganda departments 《神韵》2013世界巡演新亮点 http://www.ShenYunPerformingArts.org/

• published: 25 Oct 2013
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