US worried about media harassment covering flooding in China

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An aerial view shows a flooded road following heavy rains in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China on July 23, 2021. Photo taken with a drone. REUTERS / Aly Song

WASHINGTON, July 29 (Reuters) – The United States is “deeply concerned about the increasingly severe surveillance, harassment and intimidation of American and foreign journalists” covering recent flooding in China’s Henan Province, said State Department spokesman Ned Price Thursday.

China’s harsh rhetoric of news it considers critical “has sparked negative public sentiment leading to tense face-to-face confrontations and harassment” of journalists, Price said in a statement.

China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China said on Tuesday that journalists from several media outlets covering the recent flooding in China were being harassed online and by local residents, with BBC and Los Angeles Times staff receiving death threats. Read more

“We call on the PRC to act as a responsible nation in the hope of hosting the foreign media and the world for the upcoming Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games,” said Price.

Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Sandra Maler and Simon Cameron-Moore

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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