By Wen Tao

A security guard at Gerneral Hospital of the Second Artillery Force pointing at a photographer. Photo: Wang Yixuan

Five journalists were confronted by guards from a security service company while working at a military hospital Wednesday, and one female photographer was almost pushed through a second- floor window. The guards said the reporters were probably spies trying to steal military information.

Wang Yixuan, photographer of the Beijing Times was covering a traffic accident that claimed one fatality and injured 7 in the General Hospital of the Second Artillery Force. She was accompanied by another female photo journalist, Xue Jun of the Beijing News on the secondfloor of the hospital at about 8 am. "We had finished our job and were packing up our cameras when they rushed us," Wang told the Global Times Thursday. A guard wearing a sanitary face mask choked Wang and pushed her out of the window with no warning, smashing the glass. "The debris flew everywhere, almost hit an old man and his grandson passing by on the ground floor," said Wang, a young woman on the scene.

Xue and another female reporter from the Beijing Times, Miao Hui, rushed to the window and pulled Wang in before she fell completely out of the window. Further security staff, about 10, attacked the five on-site journalists, four female and one male.

Li Jie, a Beijing Morning Post reporter, called 110, and Xicheng district police arrived in approximately 15 minutes.

Director of the Military Affairs Office of the hospital, surnamed Li, expressed his "sincere apologies" to the journalists.

The security guards involved in the incident hail from the Rongweiyuan Security Service, a contracted company which serves a number of military organs. Manager of Rongweiyuan surnamed Zhang refused to apologize. "They allege that we conducted a brutal assault, an attempted murder. We can't accept that."

The second floor of the military hospital window where reporter Wang Yixuan was pushed through the glass when suspected of being a spy. Photo: Wang Yixuan

Another company manager Cui told the Global Times that her staff had followed the normal procedure. Guo Hui, the on-site squad leader of the security guards, said that they ordered the photographers to delete their photos before the physical confrontation.

Most members at the management level of Rongweiyuan are ex-servicemen. A company spokesperson, surnamed Liu, said that retired high-ranking officers of the 38th Army Group handpicked supervisors for the company. "The journalists took pictures in a military area without permission. We should take proper measures, in case of spies. You tell me who will take responsibility," said Liu.

The reporters' superiors arrived on the scene to deal with the incident. Tuo Yonghong, photography director from the Beijing Times, was one of them. "I am so shocked in seeing the broken window. Our reporter might have fallen to her death without the help of her brave colleagues," said Tuo, expressing that he hadseen many abused journalists before.

The reporters requested that the security videos be checked but Rongweiyuan refused, claiming the monitor was on another angle during the incident.

"The badge number of the security guard who pushed me through the window is 0933," Wang said. She noticed that another guard took off his badge after the incident in order tohide his identity.

Tuo said that most of the conflicts in news coverage are between reporters and security guards. "Low-quality and abuse of power from security guards pose a great threat to the news environment."

China Youth Daily has reported that being a journalist is the third most dangerous profession after police and miners in China, due to the high chance of being abused.

Tang Shizheng, a veteran photographer with Xinhua News Agency, condemned the violence against reporters and photographers, saying they should resort to the legal processes to protect their interests and rights.

"I have been violated during work for many times, and so did many other photographers. As long as the picture is taken in public, no one interferes with their work," Tang told the Global Times. "Even police are not supposed to make trouble for journalists, let alone security guards," he added.