A hit-and-run incident occurred at the Zhuhai Sports Center in Guangdong, China, which sparked international attention. After the incident, foreign media rushed to the scene for coverage, only to be frequently obstructed. A journalist from Japan’s TBS was even taken away by the authorities. Mainland Chinese media delayed reporting on the incident for 24 hours, mostly using official statements. According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), several Chinese media outlets received explicit orders not to report on the incident, and exercised strict vigilance against foreign media.
This shocking incident happened just before China’s largest air show, the Zhuhai Airshow, an important exhibition promoted by the Chinese Communist Party’s official media for weeks. Following the incident, Chinese leader Xi Jinping ordered all parties to “strictly guard against extreme cases and safeguard social stability.” Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also emphasized the need to “effectively address risks and resolve social conflicts to ensure overall social stability.”
Subsequently, videos and photos related to the incident were deleted from Chinese social media platforms such as Weibo, and relevant topics were banned. Activities for mourning the victims by their families and the public were also prevented.
According to a report by Agence France-Presse, security around the incident site was significantly tightened after the incident. Candles and bouquets placed by the victims’ families and the public at the entrance of the sports center were gradually removed within a few hours. A person involved in removing these items mentioned that they acted upon receiving “top-level instructions.”
The head of the sports center informed the media that the memorial candles and bouquets had been relocated inside the facility to a “designated area” for mourning, where the public was not allowed to enter.
BBC China correspondent Stephen McDonell wrote in an article titled “When Something Terrorizing Happens, China’s First Instinct Is to Block It” that the gates of the Zhuhai Sports Center were tightly shut, with darkness prevailing inside and around the area. Just a few hours earlier, a man drove an SUV into a crowd at the venue, resulting in dozens of deaths and many injuries.
When BBC journalists arrived at the scene, only security personnel were seen walking behind the fence, instructed to monitor the reporters. Their on-site reporting was promptly hindered.
Multiple Chinese media outlets told BBC that they had received explicit orders not to report on the hit-and-run incident in Zhuhai.
On the second day after the incident, the local newspaper “Zhuhai Special Zone News” did not report on the incident. It was not until around 6:30 p.m. the next day that official media first reported the information about 35 people dead. However, some media outlets, including “Caijing,” had photos of citizens mourning at the Zhuhai Sports Center site, which were soon deleted.
On the 13th, the “Global Times” only briefly mentioned the “vehicle collision incident” on an inside page, while extensive coverage of the air show dominated the front page.
The “People’s Daily” only published a brief mention of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s directive on the front page, whereas the CCTV program “Xinwen Lianbo” (News Broadcast) devoted only about 1.5 minutes to report Xi Jinping’s instructions, excluding any scenes from the incident site.
A relative of one of the injured victims posted online, saying, “It has been more than ten hours since the incident, but there are no police or media following up on the victims.”
An on-duty staff member at the sports center told a self-media author, “We were instructed by the leadership not to say anything.”
Apart from facing obstacles in reporting, journalists from Ming Pao reported that a reporter was driven away by another volunteer at a blood donation center where he was interviewing volunteers. The volunteer loudly declared, “We are not allowed to accept any interviews!”
Japanese TV station TBS reporters who went to the scene to report were only able to do so outside the blood donation center. The TBS China correspondent Yota Tani announced on a platform that after the incident, he went to the scene for coverage and was surrounded and reported to the police by a group claiming to be nearby residents. Subsequently, he was taken to the police station and forced to delete all his reporting materials.
Reports from Reuters and Agence France-Presse also indicated that reporters were obstructed by security personnel while covering the incident on-site.
Reuters reported that initially, reporters were allowed to briefly interview citizens paying respects with flowers, but several security personnel soon requested the reporters not to engage in conversations or take pictures.
Agence France-Presse’s account mentioned that the on-site security was strict, with plainclothes officers using their bodies and umbrellas to block reporters from filming.