White House ‘very disappointed’ as US journalist is forced to leave China
Obama administration unhappy that New York Times journalist is forced out of China following articles revealing the wealth accumulated by relatives of party leaders
PUBLISHED : Friday, 31 January, 2014, 9:48am
UPDATED : Friday, 31 January, 2014, 6:38pm
Associated Press in Washington
After Ramzy Austin (inset) was forced to leave China, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney urged Beijing to unblock US media websites and eliminate restrictions on journalists. Photo: AP
The White House criticised on Thursday China’s restrictions on press freedom after a New York Times journalist was forced to leave the country.
The departure on Thursday of Austin Ramzy came despite Vice-President Joe Biden last month raising with China’s leader Xi Jinping the problems faced by journalists working for US news organisations.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the US is “very disappointed” over Ramzy and remains concerned several other US journalists have waited months or years for a decision on their press credentials and visas.
Carney also urged China to unblock US media websites and eliminate other restrictions on journalists, including on travel. He said in some cases, journalists face violence at the hands of local authorities.
“These restrictions and treatment are not consistent with freedom of the press – and stand in stark contrast with US treatment of Chinese and other foreign journalists,” he said in a statement.
Ramzy is the second Times reporter in 13 months to leave the mainland over visa issues, as China intensifies efforts to control foreign media coverage. That appears to reflect wariness about foreign coverage seeping into the domestic audience and sensitivity about the country’s reputation abroad – particularly over reports about the wealth accumulated by relatives of top Communist Party leaders.
China last week blocked access on the mainland to the websites of several European and North American news outlets that carried reports of an investigation that showed the relatives of China’s president and other business and political leaders were linked to offshore tax havens.
Police and plain-clothes security officers have harassed reporters in Beijing covering the trials of dissident and activists. Foreign reporters also generally deal with official intimidation of interviewees as well as bars on going to Tibet or troubled parts of ethnic minority regions.
