U.S.-Chinese journalist visa deal sparks criticism

[ad_1]

WASHINGTON –

The United States and China agreed this week to ease restrictions on foreign journalists working inside their respective borders, but the deal is drawing criticism for not doing enough to combat the repressive stance of China to press freedom.

Steven Butler, Asia program coordinator at Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based press freedom organization, called the deal “a step in the right direction,” but said it ignored the fact that foreign journalists in China are routinely “mistreated, mistreated and arbitrarily denied visas.”

For many years, China strictly regulated the number of foreign journalists who were granted visas to work there, and canceled the visas of journalists who produced articles critical of the ruling Communist Party of China.

Last year, both countries issued escalation policies that restricted the work of journalists.

In February 2020, the State Department officially designated five Chinese state-run news agencies in the United States as Chinese government weapons. The department then reduced the number of Chinese citizens employed by the five news agencies authorized to work in the United States at the same time from 160 to 100, and reduced the length of their visas from one year to 90 days.

In response, authorities in Beijing expelled many journalists who work with major US news outlets in China, leaving them with limited staff to report.

The deal struck this week eases some of those restrictions. Chinese journalists will receive one-year multiple entry visas. China has pledged to give American journalists equal treatment once American policies take effect.

While the deal could improve media coverage of China by allowing more journalists there, press freedom critics say it is not worth it given that China is one of the largest press freedom defenders jailers in the world. In 2021, Reporters Without Borders ranked China 177th out of 180 countries in its press freedom index.

“There is a problem with the concept of exchanging independent (American) media access to a dictatorial country in exchange for granting access to state (Chinese) propaganda media to the United States.” , said Cedric Alviani, director of the East Asia office of Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based group.

“The US media shouldn’t have to beg for the possibility of covering China, and that shouldn’t be part of an interstate deal,” he said.

FILE – Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Takes notes during a Senate court hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 14, 2021.

Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee also attacked the agreement, saying that the idea that there is an equivalence between American and Chinese media is “a joke”. She urged the Biden administration to “create a system that would verify that American journalists have freedom of movement and are free from harassment in mainland China.”

A spokesperson for the US State Department defended the deal as a step in the right direction.

“We welcome this progress but see it simply as initial steps,” the spokesperson said. “The media environment in (People’s Republic of China) has deteriorated considerably in recent years.”

“We will continue to work to expand access and improve conditions for US and foreign media, and we will continue to advocate for media freedom as a reflection of our democratic values,” the spokesperson concluded.

It is unclear what impact the deal will have on journalism in China, where authorities routinely block foreign journalists covering sensitive topics such as human rights, as well as sporting events such as the upcoming Olympic Games in China. winter in Beijing.

This week, the country’s foreign correspondents club issued a statement calling on authorities in Beijing and the International Olympic Committee to improve international conditions for Games reporting.

“The foreign press has been continuously blocked from covering the preparations for the Olympic Winter Games, refused to participate in routine events, and was barred from visiting sports venues in China.”

The group said that with less than three months to the start of Beijing 2022, there is still “enormous uncertainty as to how and the ability of foreign correspondents to cover the Games.”

[ad_2]