China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Maoning spoke at a regular briefing on the 30th, protesting against China’s “don’t suppress it.” The first incident since 1980 occurred when the last two Chinese journalists in India were refused to renew their visas, leaving no Chinese state media journalists stationed in India. China’s Foreign Ministry said it would take countermeasures, calling it an unreasonable crackdown. According to Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 31st, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said at a press conference, “I can tell you that Chinese media reporters have long been treated unfairly and discriminately in India.” It was a comment on the Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) report on the 30th that the two neighboring countries kicked out almost all of each other’s reporters. Mao said India cut visa validity for Chinese journalists to between one and three months without reason in 2017 and asked reporters to leave the country even though visas and employment periods remained valid. “Faced with this long-term unreasonable suppression on the part of India, China has no choice but to take appropriate countermeasures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese media,” he said. The Chinese reporters who were denied visa renewal this time belong to the official Xinhua News Agency and the official China Central Television (CCTV). Mao, on the other hand, did not say how many Indian journalists remain in China. According to the WSJ report, two out of four Indian journalists in China have not been granted visas to return to China, and one said they were told this month that their accreditation had been revoked but could remain in China.Mao said China is willing to maintain communication with India “on the basis of the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit.””We also hope that the Indian side will meet with us in the middle to seriously respond to our legitimate concerns and take practical steps as soon as possible to create favorable conditions for the resumption of normal media exchanges between the two countries,” he said.Relations between rival China and India have deteriorated after clashes in the Galwan Valley, a disputed border region, killed at least four Chinese and 20 Indian soldiers in 2020.
KS CHOI
US ASIA JOURNAL
