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Official: Belgian journalists 'not attacked' in China AIDS village

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-12-03 21:37

ZHENGZHOU -- An initial investigation has found that three Belgian journalists involved in a dispute in a Chinese AIDS village in Henan were not attacked but were only jostled, a provincial government spokesman said on Wednesday.

The Henan provincial government began an investigation on Tuesday into the incident in which three journalists, from the Beijing branch of the Belgian Vlaamse Radio-en Televiaieomroep (Flemish Radio and Television Network), scuffled with villagers and officials in Shangqiu City.

The dispute took place three days before World AIDS Day, said Wang Yuejin, spokesman of Henan's foreign affairs bureau.

"As far as we know, there was no violence," said Wang. He said the team had gone to Zhoukou and Shangqiu cities for field investigations.

According to Wang, the three male journalists -- reporter Tom Van de Weghe, a cameraman and an interpreter -- were twice blocked by villagers on November 27 in Zhoukou and Shangqiu.

The first incident was at about 2 p.m. when they drove to the entrance of the highway connecting Zhoukou and Shangqiu. A young man who identified himself as a Zhoukou villager stopped their taxi and asked for their journalist certificates and video tapes, said driver Pan Fulin. Pan said the villager confiscated the tapes, but there was no physical conflict.

The second incident was later that night, when the three met four AIDS patients and four local officials from Gwangwang Village in Hedi Village in Suixian County, Shangqiu City.

The AIDS patients demanded tapes and memory cards, saying that they contained information that might affect their public image, Wang said. At that point, said Wang, there was some jostling, after which Van de Weghe handed over the tapes and cards.

Van de Weghe said in a report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that "the men dragged us out of the vehicle and gave us some strong blows." His report said that he "received two blows to the head, the cameraman was hit in the face and the translator sustained a blow to the chest."

"We thought they were going to kill us ... it was complete chaos, we were crying," the report said.

A local official, Dong Hongliang, disputed those claims. He said: "Van de Weghe got out of the car himself but was not dragged out or beaten."

Van de Weghe also claimed that the TV crew was "shadowed by two armored cars used by local authorities." Dong said the vehicle was a Santana car carrying local officials, who were there to prevent "extreme actions."

Dong's account was backed up by seven other people at the scene.

One villager said local residents were upset that the TV crew had only filmed such things as tombs and poor houses but did not report on the efforts of the local people against AIDS.

Wang said two tapes and a memory card taken by the villagers had been moved to the provincial capital for further investigation.

The provincial investigation team and Xinhua both failed to reach Van de Weghe by telephone.

The case was still under investigation, Wang said.