When news broke that eight Hong Kong tourists had died after a hostage siege in the Philippines this week, anger and condemnation flowed from around the world.

But the Chinese regime’s Central Propaganda Departments has ordered the country’s media to avoid any negative reporting on the issue.

The International Federation of Journalists, or IFJ, says the regime is banning reporting that could disturb bilateral relations with the Philippines. And journalists were ordered to report only from official Foreign Ministry statements.

According to the IFJ, the Chinese regime has issued four reporting restrictions on local media this month.

On August 19, the regime imposed a total reporting ban after a deadly explosion in the northwestern Xinjiang region. State-run Xinhua news agency reported it was caused by a bomb, but local journalists were ordered not to republish Xinhua reports, or their own.

IFJ’s Beijing Media Rights Monitor, Serenade Woo says restrictions like these are worrisome.

[Serenade Woo, IFJ Beijing Media Rights Monitor]:
“It completely takes away the public’s right to know, and the sanctity of human life. We are utmost concerned by this and protest [the ban].”

Earlier, the Chinese regime also restricted reporting after a food safety concern. It involved premature development in babies taking infant formula produced by China-based Synutra. The regime ordered domestic media to stop reporting that Synutra was suspect, and then announced investigations clearing the company.

[Serenade Woo, IFJ Beijing Media Rights Monitor]:

“We are disappointed and angered by this. This has to do with human lives. Does it really require a ban? The ban not only stops the issue from being clarified, it also increases public panic.”

On August 9, the IFJ reported that the regime stopped journalists from going to an area in northwest China where deadly mudslides killed at least one thousand people.

The media watchdog has urged the Chinese regime to lift the reporting restrictions, and uphold the public’s right to information.