(Ecns.cn)-- Battlefield reporting for journalists is certainly not easy as they have to dodge flying bullets and avoid death when pursuing headline news.
Zhang Cuirong, from Hong Kong, is one of these journalists. So far, she has witnessed turmoil in East Timor and reported on stories from the frontlines of the Afghan War, along with many other wars of its kind that have cursed the world in the past 14 years.
In response to those who worry about her personal safety, Zhang just smiles and replies that as long as there are lies in the world, she will not give up her job.
A narrow escape in East Timor
Unlike many of her peers covering international news, as a freelance journalist, Zhang has to take care of herself during wartime.
"Sometimes I have been able to figure out ways to protect myself, but under other circumstances, I just ran," said Zhang with a calm tone.
In August 1999, Zhang, who worked for the BBC at the time, finished her first report on the chaos in East Timor and experienced a narrow escape from death.
On the eve of her departure for the country, Zhang received an emergency notice from the London-based BBC, calling off the task to report on the turmoil haunting East Timor. Chaos had escalated in the country as the referendum to determine whether to continue integration with Indonesia or not was approaching. Zhang declined the order and continued her trip to the region at her own expense.
One particular night just before the referendum is engraved in the journalist's mind. While interviewing a refugee in her hostess' house, Zhang was interrupted by pro-integration paramilitaries who were harassing local residents.
With great fear, Zhang and the rest of the household immediately turned off the lights and crawled under a desk, trembling hand-in-hand with each other.
By the time the results in favor of independence came out in September, pro-integration paramilitaries had begun the massacre of innocent civilians, and journalists as well. The BBC then sent private planes to evacuate its on field correspondents. Once again, Zhang refused to leave, as, according to her, "someone had to stay to cover the story."
She stayed as she had wanted to. However, it soon became impossible for Zhang to continue reporting due to the chaotic and dangerous situation. Zhang then jumped into a military jeep and headed for the airport.
On the second day after her departure, the hotel she had stayed in was robbed, and Dili, the capital of East Timor, was ruined in a fire.
Reporting under gunshots
Following her first adventure in the war field, Zhang Cuirong, the ambitious journalist, kicked off her "world tour" chasing stories and interviewing pivotal figures that had changed the world.
On her interviewee list, one can see the shining names of Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of Britain, Xanana Gusmao, the first President of East Timor, as well as the legendary Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, who impressed the female correspondent the most.
At the end of July 2002, when the conflict between Palestine and Israel sharply progressed, Zhang decided to take a shot at interviewing the trapped Palestine leader Arafat, who by then had been cornered in his headquarters by the furious Israeli army for four months.
The interview was scheduled for 11:30 pm and when she met the leader, she saw "an old man whose life had almost completed its span." As the first Hong Kong journalist to ever interview Arafat, Zhang talked with the former leader for more than half an hour, receiving first-hand and in-depth ideas from the famous politician about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
She left the surrounded headquarters of the Palestinian Liberation Organization early the next morning and was immediately interrogated by Israeli soldiers. Though she managed to get through the interrogation, she was scared to get off the ground when loud shots rang out behind her.
"Anyway, it didn't cost my life to conduct the interview. I was lucky," laughed Zhang.
