A French and Dutch reporter have been attacked as they reported on protests against land sales in China, according to AFP. Remko Tanis, a reporter for the Netherlands Press Association, was attacked on 15 February. A journalist for French 24, Baptiste Fallevoz, and his fixer Jack Zhang were mobbed by a large group, whilst covering the protests in Panhe. Although foreign journalists have a limited level of freedom to report on local protests, they do still face harassment and violence.

According to the Foreign Correspondents Club of China (FCCC), the group that attacked Tanis, as he was interviewing the villagers, consisted of policemen in plainclothes. They also said that his equipment was seized, including notes from his interviews and the memory card from his camera. Tanis was taken by members of the local Foreign Affairs Office, and even when he was released he was still harassed by the police on the phone.

Baptiste Fallevoz and Jack Zhang were in their car when they were approached by a group of 20 to 30 men, who surrounded them and attacked them, smashing Zhang’s camera. The Shanghaiist reported that the police had compensated the journalists for the attack, which according to them were carried out by rival villagers.

The FCCC warned its members to be alert when reporting from Panhe. In addition, the President of the FCCC, Stephen McDonell said: “It is outrageous in this day and age to have a situation in China – a country that wants to be considered a modern, civilised player on the world stage – whereby reporters can be assaulted with the knowledge of local authorities for doing nothing more than their jobs.”

The journalists were covering protests against local government officials in Panhe, a village in the Zhejiang province. Residents have accused local communist party officials of illegally selling their land to property developers. Many of the villagers who protested were detained and also beaten. The state-owned newspaper, Global Times, played down the event claiming that the protests had ended after several protesters were detained, and that the government was acting to compensate the villagers.

The issue of land is particularly contentious in China at the moment. Last December, a protest over land grabs in Wukan turned into a rebellion, which saw the local communist party leaders expelled and new elections for local government.

IPI Press Freedom Manager Anthony Mills said: “The violence in Panhe is unacceptable. Journalists should not be attacked for doing their job. On the contrary, they have a right to report on matters of public interest, including land grabs and protests.”