Journalist in China

Facing contemporary China. Memories, impressions and personal experiences of an experienced journalist.

Tomáš Etzler's autobiographical book charts a decade of his life in Asia, where he worked for seven years as a permanent correspondent for Czech Television in China and then for three years as a freelancer in Hong Kong. During this time, he prepared more than five hundred reports and hundreds of live broadcasts from all Chinese provinces and from twelve other Asian countries for Czech Television alone. Tomáš Etzler has not only worked for ČT but also for CNN, so he offers a unique comparison between working for the state television of a small European country and for a global news giant.

The book does not attempt to explain or lecture about China, but rather is a collection of human stories from the everyday lives of ordinary people in a communist country through the eyes of a foreign correspondent. The testimony of an author who is not afraid to document even the events that the ruling communists try to hide from the world. Something for which he has been detained and harassed countless times by the Chinese police. The book is particularly timely today and in many ways helps to understand the challenges that a strengthening totalitarian China confronts the world.