China detains filmmaker Du Bin for highlighting human rights violation in country

In yet another attempt by China to squash the free press, the Chinese police detained filmmaker and journalist Du Bin in Beijing for making documentaries on human rights violations and publishing critical books on the history of the Communist Party.

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Du Bin held for exposing China

Friends of Du Bin, who has worked as a freelance photographer for The New York Times, have said that his detention may have been connected to his recent books, as per The New York Times reports. Wu Yangwei, a Guangzhou-based activist, believes that the reason for detention is the same. 

"The authorities have already significantly tightened control over the media and the internet in China and are extending control over publishing overseas now, as well as the use of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter outside China," Wu said.

The 48-year-old filmmaker's family said that the police allegedly told them that Du had been detained for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” 

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Chinese authorities repeatedly targeted Du Bin 

This is not the first time when Du Bin has been targeted by the Chinese authorities. In 2013, he was detained for more than a month after he released a documentary exposing the violation of human rights by Falun Gong practitioners at a labor camp.

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China against the free press 

"The authorities have purged civil society [in China] in the past few years, suppressing free speech and any defiant activities," he said. "[Activists in China] now live in a state of despair and fear, so I doubt that the detention [of Du] will cause any pushback," said Wu Yangwei. 

A number of journalists who were detained in China for their reporting on the pandemic remain under detention. This year, the authorities also debarred several foreign journalists, as per The New York Times reports. 

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(With ANI Inputs)