ABSTRACT
The field of China correspondence, though functioning on its own journalistic logic, is heavily subjected to heteronomous pressures from state coercion in the host country of China. This chapter looks at the increasingly aggressive state coercion as a major disruptive external force on China reporting and how China correspondents negotiate with these pressures. State coercion in China, encompassing both ‘stick and carrot,’ is manifested in, among other things, access blockage, harassment, and flak. Although China correspondents have developed countermeasures, including exposing harassment and anticipatory avoidance, none of these measures addresses the structural conditions. The power structure is hardly challenged, with the ‘anaconda in the chandelier’ continuing to be writhing in the field and threatening the journalistic practice of China correspondents.?
