As of 1 November, a reported 34 Middle East war correspondents have been killed in the crossfire of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Is being a war correspondent who risks life and limb the strong suit of Chinese people? This depends on whether there is a free press.
Arduous travel
When there is freedom of the press, there is professional journalism. This includes the training of war correspondents, which is part of the journalism course at the University of Missouri and Columbia University in the US.
The private press industry had flourished during the Republic of China era, when anyone with the funds could start a newspaper. Shanghai, Hankou and Tianjin attracted a large number of foreign expatriates who were also chasing after the latest scoop. That was the most vibrant period for the Chinese press, including during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
According to Thomas Chao, a journalist working for Reuters in China at the time, transportation was difficult. They first travelled to Guilin, then to Hengyang, where they encountered the roar of enemy aircraft.
Between 1939 and 1944, there were four major battles between China and Japan in Hunan’s Changsha. The Japanese considered the occupation of Changsha to be the key to overall victory.
This little city attracted notable reporters such as Spencer Moosa of the Associated Press, Mikhail Yakshamin of the TASS news agency, Francis McCracken “Mac” Fisher of the United Press, and Colin McDonald of the Sydney Morning Herald. Along with Shen Jianhong, director of the International Propaganda Department of the National Government, and Niu Xianming of the Military Command in 1941, people from various places were scrambling to Changsha.
According to Thomas Chao, a journalist working for Reuters in China at the time, transportation was difficult. They first travelled to Guilin, then to Hengyang, where they encountered the roar of enemy aircraft.
The reporters disembarked to take refuge in the nearby mountains. They then continued their journey from Hengyang to Changsha via the Guangzhou-Hankou railway.
The foreign war correspondents protested. They clearly saw several wooden boats leaving Xiangtan for Changsha, why were those people not afraid of the mines?
Located along the Xiang River, Changsha is only accessible through the Lukou Bridge. But the Japanese had destroyed the bridge, and the Xiang River was filled with mines planted by the Chinese Nationalist Army. The foreign reporters had to take wooden boats along the Xiang River, as shallow motorboats could not pass.
Chao recalled that the river water was crystal clear, and the United Press’s Fisher and the Russian Yakshamin could not resist diving in for a swim — even war correspondents stole moments to relax amid their work.
Entering a city under siege
When the reporters arrived in Xiangtan, the war was tense, and water transportation was halted. They were ordered to proceed to Changsha by land the next morning. The representative of the Nationalist Army in Changsha informed them that there were mines at the bottom of the Xiang River. The foreign war correspondents protested. They clearly saw several wooden boats leaving Xiangtan for Changsha, why were those people not afraid of the mines?
Today, war correspondents must obey the orders of soldiers on the battlefield. There is often a conflict as reporters seek the truth, but military information must be kept secret.
After walking over land for two days, the wearied reporters finally arrived in Changsha, and rested at a farm in the Yuelu Mountain.
The next day, General Xue Yue, commander-in-chief of the 9th war zone, briefed the foreign reporters on the progress of the Battle of Changsha. The reporters then crossed the Xiang River to enter the city.
At this time, foreign missionaries came to report that the Japanese had set up headquarters in Xiangya Hospital after invading Changsha. The Nationalist Army had also retreated to the opposite bank of the Xiang River, while another Japanese cavalry unit had occupied Zhuzhou.
Truth about the victory
The Chinese Air Force bombed the Japanese base along the Liuyang River, while the artillery bombarded Changsha City. As a result, the Japanese suffered significant damage and only managed to occupy the northern part of Changsha, and were riddled with fears of stepping outside at night.
The Japanese wanted to further attack Changsha, but the Chinese had already destroyed the roads, making transportation difficult. The Japanese had to deploy their air force to carry out low-altitude bombing, covering the advancing infantry with machine guns.
The Japanese army broadcast at home that they had failed in the Battle of Changsha and were retreating voluntarily. However, the group of foreign reporters that were on the ground found that because China had been well prepared, hitting hard at the Japanese after infiltrating enemy lines, the isolated Japanese troops were in fact retreating in defeat.
If a conflict erupts in the Taiwan Strait, how much of the facts will those in mainland China and Hong Kong know?
British and American war correspondents interviewed foreign missionaries in Changsha and also obtained secondhand information outside of government reports. The truth about the victory in the Battle of Changsha was revealed and widely publicised in the international media. This was a crucial fight in China’s war of resistance against Japan, and boosted morale throughout China.
Indeed, reporting the truth was a key factor in winning the war.
When it comes to the Gaza Strip in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel has failed to take the high ground of reporting the truth. This has led liberal Western reporters sympathetic to the Palestinian cause to produce biased reports, including BBC journalists who claimed that Israel intentionally bombing hospitals.
Valuable records of the Battle of Changsha now exist because of the presence of Chinese and foreign reporters. As for China today, its last war was the Sino-Vietnamese War in 1979. Were there journalists with the People’s Liberation Army, reporting the truth as it entered Vietnam?
If a conflict erupts in the Taiwan Strait, how much of the facts will those in mainland China and Hong Kong know? Has China’s freedom of press and speech progressed or regressed over the past 50 years?
As for Thomas Chao, he remained in China in 1949. Six years later, he was accused by the Chinese government of being a foreign spy, and died in a labour reform camp in 1961.
This article was first published in Chinese on CUP media as "戰地記者在昨天的中國".
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