Police in China detain, beat Japanese reporters; Reuters staffer threatened

Japan’s Kyodo News Agency reported today that police in Kashgar dragged Masami Kawakita, a photographer from the Chunichi Shimbun newspaper's Tokyo headquarters, and Shinji Katsuta, a reporter for Nippon Television Network’s China general bureau, from a spot near the explosions that killed 16 police officers on Monday.

The two journalists suffered slight injuries. Kyodo reported that “police forcibly disrupted the Japanese journalists’ reporting activities near the base, took them to a room in a nearby hotel, and beat them before releasing them two hours later, according to people with knowledge of the situation.”

Reuters reported that its correspondent in Kashgar, Emma Graham-Harrison, was driven away from the attack scene by baton-wielding policemen. Reuters said she was not injured and continues to report from Kashgar.

© 2008 Committee to Protect Journalists