BEIJING-
The Chinese Government on Friday refuted a statement issued by United States Department of State on its treatment of foreign journalists after an American journalist had to leave the country on not receiving a visa.
“China does not accept the unjustifiable accusations by the US side, and demands the US side to respect facts and take cautious words and acts,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement reported Friday by the official Chinese news agency.
On January 30, US State Department in a statement regretted over the “forced” exit of Austin Ramzy, a New York Times journalist, from China and expressed concern about the working environment for foreign journalists working in China.
“The United States is deeply concerned that foreign journalists in China continue to face restrictions that impede their ability to do their jobs, including extended delays in processing journalist visas, restrictions on travel to certain locations deemed ‘sensitive’ by Chinese authorities and, in some cases, violence at the hands of local authorities,” read the statement.
“We urge China to commit to timely visa and credentialing decisions for foreign journalists, unblock US media websites and eliminate other restrictions that impede the ability of journalists to practice their profession,” the statement added.
China had blocked the websites of both The New York Times and Bloomberg News after they published investigations in 2012 into the family wealth of former premier Wen Jiabao and President Xi Jinping, respectively.
Ramzy, who had been based in China for more than six years, left Time magazine in mid-2013 to work for the New York Times. But Chinese officials had not yet granted him a new visa before his previous one expired, effectively obliging him to leave Beijing.
“China is forcing out Austin Ramzy today after 6.5 years,” Times China correspondent Ed Wong wrote Thursday on Twitter.
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) said it “strongly regrets”that Ramzy “has been forced to leave” and criticised China’s behaviour, saying it “falls well short of international standards”. He is the third New York Times journalist not to be authorised to stay in China in 18 months, it pointed out in a statement.
Asked about China’s treatment of foreign journalists, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying denied any expulsions.
“There’s no such thing as foreign journalists being expelled from China,”Hua said Wednesday at a regular news briefing, adding: “It is Chinese domestic affairs.
Chinese authorities have said that Ramzy breached visa rules by not changing his status after leaving Time, but the FCCC disputed the accusation.
