Simon muses about the approach news organizations take when reporters are jailed by the Chinese government and whether any approach can persuade the CPC to change.

I understand that papers are put in difficult positions when reporters are arrested. On one hand it is news-worthy, but on the other the reporting of the arrest would likely further imperil the reporter. The New York Times and Washington Post manage to report such arrests of their staff. It’s an interesting contrast with the Straits Times approach.

Especially since neither approach has worked.

He also has a brief round-up of blogger posts on the jailing of the Straits Times reporter Ching Cheong.

Glutter also has a view:

There are a lot of pro-china people out there that tells us that we should trust China, that Hong Kong people should not be afraid of losing our freedoms, and every so often we are reminded that no matter how much China "opens" information is not part of the package. And of course there are people who will say that the journalist deserves to be placed in jail because he "knows,’ that what he is doing is illegal, and that’s just asking for trouble. Which really is the tenants of self censorship. Not to test the line, never do anything offensive and stick to the easy news. Being a journalist is not about telling the truth, it’s just a job. And if you try to break that comfortable self censored line, you end up in jail.