An official Chinese newspaper on Thursday accused foreign journalists in the country of fabricating news in the latest sign of official nerves over an online campaign for anti-government rallies.
The commentary in the Global Times came a day after police threatened foreign journalists on Wednesday that they could lose permission to work in China unless they obey vague new restrictions on covering such rallies.
“It is not unusual for Beijing-based Western journalists to receive demands from bosses in their home countries to make up stories,” said an opinion piece in the paper, which is linked to the ruling Communist Party.
Western reporters “must never take delight in blind, idle chatter and instead should remember your true status and the laws of the nation where you are living.”
The commentary appeared to underline rising official anxiety over an online call for rallies in cities across China each Sunday.
Although no protests have yet been seen, police have thrown tight security at the sites in the past two weeks, which last Sunday saw several foreign journalists roughed up.
‘Journalist ethics’
The commentary blamed the presence of Western journalists for attracting crowds of curious onlookers and setting police on edge.
“Making up stories and fabricating news … does not conform with journalist ethics nor does it really uphold justice,” the commentary said.
Police have issued vague instructions to foreign journalists, telling them they must apply for permission to report at demonstration sites in Beijing.
However, no journalists who have applied for permission have yet been granted permission, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China said in a notice to its members on Thursday.
The notice also warned journalists to exercise extreme caution if trying to report on the rallies on Sunday and to avoid letting police separate them from colleagues or corner them out of sight of other people.
The notice came after Bloomberg News said one of its correspondents was kicked and punched by at least five men in plainclothes — apparently security personnel — at Wangfujing, one of the designated locations in Beijing. — Sapa-AFP