‘Picking quarrels and provoking trouble’: China jails journalist for 15 years

BEIJING: A journalist who had worked for some of China's most powerful propaganda outlets has been jailed for 15 years after being accused of attacking the ruling Communist Party, court documents showed.

Chen Jieren was convicted on Thursday of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble, extortion, illegal business operations and bribery," a court in central Hunan province said in a statement posted online.

The charge of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" is a catch-all that Chinese authorities sometimes use against people who criticise the regime, foreign media reported. The verdict against Chen comes as China's leadership faces international scrutiny over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with questions over whether authorities covered up crucial information that could have prevented it from spreading across the globe.

Chen, who had once worked for the People's Daily, the Communist Party's main mouthpiece, had posted "false" and "negative" information online, according to the court's statement.

"The defendant published false information on blogs, WeChat public accounts, WeChat moments and other We-media to hype relevant cases under the guise of providing legal advice," it said.