Chinese state TV shows journalist confessing to taking bribes

Chinese state television has broadcast a purported confession to accepting bribes by a journalist who had been arrested on charges he fabricated stories to defame a state-owned construction equipment maker. The detention of Chen Yongzhou last week sparked a public outcry, including an unusually bold campaign by his newspaper to have him freed.

Chen's lengthy explanation of how he invented negative stories about Changsha-based Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology is the latest in a series of televised confessions by suspects in high-profile or politicised cases. Rights activists have said that public confessions in China are often forced and violate the accused's right to due process.

"I'm willing to admit my guilt and to repent," Chen said as he sat handcuffed before police in a morning news segment on state broadcaster CCTV. "In this case I've caused damages to Zoomlion, which was the subject, and also the whole news media industry and its ability to earn the public's trust."

New Express, the state-backed tabloid that employed Chen, had published two front-page pleas for police to release him last week, garnering widespread attention and sympathy from the public.

The paper's website did not mention Chen's confession on Saturday morning.

Chen's arrest, which coincides with new curbs on journalists, lawyers and internet users in China, has drawn attention to the role of whistleblowers as the country's leadership moves to eradicate graft.

Chen's reports said Zoomlion engaged in sales fraud, dubious business practices and black public relations tactics, allegations Zoomlion has denied. Chen said in the confession that he had not written the reports but that a third party had given them to him and paid him to publish them.

CCTV said Chen took bribes ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of yuan for the reports.
The CCTV report did not say who had bribed Chen to fabricate reports about Zoomlion. A Zoomlion employee had publicly accused the company's hometown competitor Sany Group of planting the stories. Sany has denied any wrongdoing.

Chen was also paid to visit industry regulators in Beijing and Hong Kong to tell them about Zoomlion's business practices, the CCTV report said. The China Securities Regulatory Commission said it had found no evidence that Zoomlion falsified its sales or financial statements, as Chen alleged, CCTV reported.

The close competition between Sany and Zoomlion, which comes amid a slowdown in the construction equipment market, has sometimes turned ugly, with each company accusing the other of corporate spying. Sany's chairman told a local reporter this year that Zoomlion was involved in kidnapping his son, a charge Zoomlion denied.

Original Article
Source: theguardian.com
Author: Staff and agencies in Beijing