Expulsion of reporters petty act: China media
BEIJING: Serious consequences await India if New Delhi has expelled three Chinese journalists because Beijing did not support India’s bid to be included in the Nuclear Suppliers Group, Chinese state media said late on Sunday night.
China, it said, should make it difficult for Indians to get visas – possibly indicating that Indian journalists stationed here could be targeted. HT broke the story on July 23 that three journalists — Wu Qiang, Tang Lu and She Yonggang — from New Delhi and Mumbai were told by authorities to pack up and leave the country by July 31. Though no official reason was given for the directive, anonymous officials later said the three were suspected of doing “un-journalistic work”.
In an acerbic reaction, nationalistic tabloid Global Times said: “If New Delhi is really taking revenge due to the NSG membership issue, there will be serious consequences.” “On the visa issue this time, we should take actions to display our reaction. We at least should make a few Indians feel Chinese visas are also not easy to get.”
The newspaper wrote in a sharp vein: “In any case, it’s not a good thing that India has turned down Chinese reporters’ applications for new visas. The act has sent negative messages and media communications between China and India will inevitably be negatively impacted. India has a suspicious mind”.
Global Times, which is linked to People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the first state media outlet to react to the report of the expulsion of the three Xinhua reporters, Wu Qiang, Tang Lu and She Yonggang.
The Chinese government has maintained silence with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs not yet commenting on the rare expulsion of the journalists – it has instead fired the first salvo from the shoulders of the newspaper known for its jingoistic – if occasionally poor – language.
The newspaper wrote: “No matter whether Chinese reporters apply for a long-term or a temporary journalist visa, they will come across many troubles. Complaints about difficulties of acquiring an Indian visa have also been heard from other Chinese who deal with India. In contrast, it’s much easier for Indians to get a Chinese visa.”
The article gave an example to say how thin the anonymous accusations about the Chinese journalists were: “Lü Pengfei, former India-based special correspondent with the Global Times, said there is absolutely no need for Chinese journalists to conduct interviews under fake names and it is completely normal for reporters to request interviews with the Dalai Lama group.”