Beijing: China appears poised to expel nearly two dozen foreign journalists at The New York Times and Bloomberg in a drastic escalation of pressure being placed on foreign news organisations operating in the country.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Reporters for the two US news organisations have faced extensive delays with visa renewals, after publishing a series of exposes on senior Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping and former premier Wen Jiabao, that have embarrassed and angered the central government.
Fairfax Media has learned that one New York Times journalist has been told that a hold has been placed on all of its visa applications, and that some passports have been returned to correspondents without being processed. It is understood the situation is the same for reporters at Bloomberg.
Barring a dramatic reversal of fortunes, reporters for both organisations will be required to leave the country when their visas expire – in some cases, in less than two weeks' time.
US Vice-President Joe Biden raised the issue in a meeting with Mr Xi in Beijing this week, amid heightened tensions over China’s claims to airspace over the East China Sea.
Mr Biden said the two countries have “profound disagreements” over the treatment of US journalists in the country.
“Innovation thrives where people breathe freely, speak freely, are able to challenge orthodoxy, where newspapers can report the truth without fear of consequences,” Mr Biden said.
It is understood the affected journalists hoped the warning from Mr Biden would help force a late change of heart from Chinese authorities
Mr Biden's statement came two days after Britain protested to China for barring a Bloomberg reporter from an event in Beijing attended by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and British Prime Minister David Cameron. The reporter had travelled to China to cover Mr Cameron's visit.
In China, accredited foreign journalists are typically granted annual visas, which expire at the end of the calendar year.
China has long used the relatively short-term nature of the visas to put pressure on reporters. But never have entire news organisations of this size been targeted.
The websites of The New York Times and Bloomberg are blocked in China, while the Chinese-language sites of The Wall Street Journal and Reuters were also blocked earlier this year.
The New York Times has not been granted visas for new reporters for more than a year, with Beijing’s bureau chief Philip Pan waiting on his visa since March last year.
It emerged last month that Bloomberg executives chose not to publish a long-standing investigation into China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin, and his close ties with senior Chinese politicians in a pragmatic effort to avoid being expelled.
It is understood that the Times’ coverage of that story, as well as an investigation it published on Wen Jiabao’s daughter, had angered Chinese authorities further.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei denied any campaign against foreign reporters, and said China managed foreign reporters according to the law.
"In recent years, we have provided an extremely convenient atmosphere for foreign reporters reporting in China, and the results have been plain for all to see," he said.
Jill Abramson, the executive editor at The New York Times, said “unfettered coverage of China is a crucial issue” and that she was determined to continue “the highest quality journalism about China'', whether or not the visas were renewed.
