A Dutch Correspondent’s Scandal in China

For weeks, the ranks of foreign media in China have been haunted by a scandal involving an experienced journalist. Oscar Garschagen, the Shanghai-based correspondent for NRC Handelsblad, a Dutch newspaper, was publicly accused of fabricating stories by his former Chinese assistant. On September 20, NRC’s investigation finally confirmed the “serious mistakes” Garschagen made from 2015 to 2017 and, accordingly, Garschagen left the newspaper. The scandal’s impact on foreign media in China is far from finished unspooling, however.

A Scandal Exposed by a Whistleblower

On September 3, Garschagen’s former Chinese news assistant, Zhang Chaoqun, posted an article under the title of “I got a foreign journalist who wrote fake news fired.” In the article, Zhang accused Garschagen of breaking multiple journalistic rules, including fabricating quotes, interviewees, and other details in his reports over the past two years. The article reverberated throughout China’s foreign media circle.

Two days later, NRC’s editor-in-chief, Peter Vandermeersch, posted a statement addressing the accusations in Zhang’s article. In the statement, he defended Garschagen and repeated Garschagen’s response to Zhang’s accusation. Garschagen firmly denied the allegations and said Zhang’s performance as an assistant was “problematic,” listing issues such as miscommunication, lack of a journalistic background, reluctance to cooperate, and – one of the most devastating attacks on Zhang – “his lack of openness about his contacts” with China’s state security.

In a statement in Dutch, Vandermeersch said, “It goes without saying that the editorial staff of NRC deeply regrets that a former employee of NRC tries to discredit the reputation of a well-informed correspondent and the reputation of the newspaper in this way."

Vandermeersch added that Garschagen had contacted the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Shanghai. The ministry oversees all administrative work related to foreign correspondents and their assistants.

Besides the statement, Garschagen gave a number of interviews maintaining his denial of any violations of journalistic ethics.

Zhang then released more evidence and accused Garschagen of trying to “muddy the water.”  Multiple Chinese journalists tagged NRC on Twitter, calling for a thorough investigation.

Finally, after weeks of internal investigation, NRC acknowledged on September 20 in a second statement that Garschagen had made serious mistakes.

According to the second statement, Garschagen told NRC’s investigating team in “an emotional conversation” that:

In the run-up to my retirement [Garschagen, 64, was set to retire next year] I wanted to show that I could still do it… I made it more beautiful and interesting in some pieces than it was. Not so much in content but in the shape of the story. I had heard things from people I spoke to, I had read things, and in a few cases I made it my own story.

Garschagen further explained that he had struggled with burnout and depression in the past few years.

Backlash Among Chinese News Assistants

Although the case has closed, the scandal continues to reverberate through the foreign media circle in China, which is unique among foreign correspondent cohorts elsewhere. The regulations issued by the Chinese foreign ministry say that Chinese “can only engage in auxiliary work for the permanent offices of foreign media organizations or foreign journalists such as photographing, filming, or doing paperwork.”

The rule truncates the career ladder for many Chinese citizens working for foreign media companies in China. As a result, Chinese interested in pursuing careers in journalism serve as “news assistants” for foreign correspondents or leave for positions outside of the Chinese mainland, such Hong Kong or Macau.

The Chinese foreign media circle, then, is comprised of foreign correspondents (non-Chinese citizens), Chinese news assistants (Chinese citizens), and Chinese reporters working for foreign media (who work while “unregistered” or from outside the mainland). Chinese working for foreign media have a uniquely precarious status, which was why this case struck a nerve.

After NRC’s final conclusion was released, multiple reporters – Chinese reporters in particular – pointed out that NRC didn’t clarify the accusations hanging over Zhang or make an apology for its earlier denials.

Fan Wenxin, a Chinese reporter for the Wall Street Journal based in Hong Kong, tweeted: “NRC is treating Mr. Garschagen with humanity, but did it forget to apologize to or thank Zhang Chaoqun, its ex-researcher?”

In its second statement, NRC concluded that despite his recent mistakes, Garschagen had done excellent work in his earlier years.

Zhang told Sixth Tone, an English website run by a Chinese media organization, that he was “happy and grateful that NRC acknowledged the facts,” but “was disappointed when Vandermeersch accused him in his earlier statement of dragging the newspaper’s name through the mud.” Zhang “expressed his hope to NRC that they would publicly apologize to him.”

Zhang is not the first Chinese news assistant to have a dispute with his foreign bosses.

Yajun Zhang, a former Chinese news assistant, published an account of her personal experiences on September 7. She lamented the fact that Chinese news assistants perform most of the legwork for many foreign media stories, from finding interview subjects and providing translation to doing research and even coming up with story ideas in the first place. Yet, as Yajun Zhang pointed out, generally the assistants’ work is anonymous and rarely credited. This is despite the fact that “Chinese nationals employed by foreign media often face even greater risks than their foreign bureau employers.”

She explains:

“Chinese news assistants take significant risk when they accompany their employers into the field. Local officials know there are limits to what they can do to a foreign correspondent, but those same officials have no such limitations when it comes to Chinese news assistants — some have faced jail time.”

Yajun Zhang goes on to explain why those personal safety issues make the accusation of “contacts with China’s state security,” which Garschagen leveled at Zhang Chaoqun, a “thorny issue” for Chinese news assistants:

“Many news assistants have had the experience of being invited for tea by state security, normally going through routine questions such as what the correspondents are writing about and who they are talking to... 

...Many news assistants are caught between their employers and the state. To refuse to meet with state security puts them in legal jeopardy, but these meetings can cause the correspondent to lose trust in their news assistants, and when you’re in the field, in risky situations, that bond and that trust are important.

So, what often happens is that the news assistant complies with state security and, whether they give them information or not, will often be reluctant to publicize these meetings — even to their boss. I don’t know the details of Zhang Chaoqun’s meetings with state security alleged by NRC, but there is a context for withholding this kind of information.”

This personal account struck a chord with many Chinese news assistants who have also dealt directly with the tension between the Chinese state and foreign media organizations. Many Chinese news assistants also complained about their foreign employers’ arrogance and some claimed that some foreign correspondents hold “a ‘colonial’ condescending” attitude toward their Chinese assistants.

Foreign Correspondents’ Awkward Silence

In contrast to the Chinese news assistants’ commenting on the Garschagen case, foreign correspondents in China largely remained silent.

On September 10, Allen Wan, the president of the Shanghai Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC Shanghai), told Sixth Tone that the club was “gathering facts” about Garschagen’s case and would “have a board meeting in due time.” Garschagen “served honorably” as a recent board member, Wan added.

Later, after NRC’s second statement and the confirmation of the allegations against Garschagen, FCC Shanghai told Sixth Tone that it had no comment on the case.

The awkward silence of the foreign correspondents contrasts sharply with the loud denunciations sounding from Chinese state media.

For example, the Global Times, one of the most aggressive Chinese state-owned newspapers, has followed the case closely from the very beginning. The paper claimed that Garschagen, as well as his company, could be sued for fabricating news, quoting Wang Sixin, a law professor at the Communication University of China in Beijing.

In recent years, China’s state media has constantly questioned the credibility of foreign media, claiming that “Western media has demonized China.” The Garschagen case just adds to this narrative and it’s unlikely that the Chinese government would pass up an opportunity to further limit the room foreign correspondents have to maneuver in China.

Against this backdrop, the silence of foreign correspondents might not only give the Chinese government a good excuse to regulate them more harshly in the following months, but also harm the precious bonds between foreign media organizations and their Chinese assistants, who are vital to the work they do.

That being said, it is worth noting that Yajun Zhang, the former Chinese news assistant mentioned above, didn’t forget to point out in her article that “Based on my personal experience of working with foreign correspondents, most of them are great journalists.”

In order to clear the air, however, the whole community of foreign correspondents needs to acknowledge the great contribution their Chinese assistants make and break the silence they have kept about the curious case of the Dutch correspondent.