- The US has expressed concern about China’s press freedom.
- Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian criticized the BBC’s proliferation of reports.
- The Agence France-Presse reporter was forced to delete the footage of Zhengzhou.
A spokesperson for the US State Department said on Thursday that the United States is “deeply concerned” about the harassment and intimidation of foreign journalists reporting on China’s deadly floods.
Read | Severe rains cause 12 deaths due to flooding of Chinese subway
His remarks were made less than 24 hours after Beijing accused the BBC of broadcasting “fake news” about the devastating floods in central Henan Province last week. As the BBC said, its reporters were hostile.
“The United States is deeply concerned about the increasing surveillance, harassment, and intimidation of American and other foreign journalists in the People’s Republic of China (China), including foreign journalists reporting on the damage and loss of life caused by the recent floods in Henan,” State Department spokesperson Ned · Price said in a statement.
“The Chinese government claims to welcome foreign media and support their work, but its actions tell a different story,” Price said.
Read | Chinese city clears rubble after record rains killed 33 people
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian called the BBC a “fake news broadcaster” earlier on Thursday and “attacked and discredited China, seriously deviating from news standards.”
Harassed
The BBC stated that its reporters who reported on the flood were verbally abused online, while other media were harassed in the field by “attacks that continued to endanger the safety of foreign journalists.”
The BBC reported on the floods in Zhengzhou last week. During peak hours, the subway system in Zhengzhou was flooded, causing 14 deaths and trapping more than 500 commuters. At the same time, people are becoming more sensitive to negative descriptions of China. .
When reporting on a flooded traffic tunnel, an Agence France-Presse reporter was forced to delete the footage by hostile residents of Zhengzhou and was surrounded by dozens of men.
Zhao said on Thursday that foreign journalists “enjoy an open and free reporting environment in China”.
However, the press freedom organization said that the operating space for overseas journalists is tightening. Journalists took to the streets and were harassed online and their visas were denied.
In a statement on Thursday, Price urged China not to restrict media access to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
He said in the statement: “We call on the People’s Republic of China as a responsible country and hope to welcome foreign media and the world for the upcoming Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.”
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