US accuses China of being afraid of independent media

Washington has said that Beijing fears freedom of expression and that it intends to impose further restrictions on foreign journalists working in its territory to access information.

WashingtonThe United States on Tuesday accused China of “fearing” the “independent” media, saying it had informed Beijing of its intention to “impose greater restrictions on the access of foreign journalists working” in its territory to information.

“The proposed measures will further deteriorate the situation of the press in China, which already suffers from a shortage of open and independent media,” a spokeswoman for the US State Department, Morgan Ortagus, wrote in a tweet.

He stressed that “the United States Department of State has been trying for years to persuade the People’s Republic of China to allow American journalists to go to China, give freedom to the American media to resume their work normally, and end intimidation and harassment of foreign journalists “.

“But the Chinese Foreign Ministry informed us that it intends to impose greater restrictions on foreign journalists working in the People’s Republic of China” to access the information, he added.

“Why is the Communist Party of China afraid of independent and investigative media?” He added that this means “improved and in-depth foreign knowledge of what is currently happening in China.”

These remarks come at a time when Beijing warned foreign journalists on Tuesday about the need to “respect the law” in order to work on its territory.

The Chinese warning came after two Australian journalists fled China on Monday night for their country for fear of arrest for reasons related to national security.

This year, the Chinese authorities expelled American journalists working for major newspapers.

In turn, the United States imposed restrictions on the work of Chinese official media in its territory, considering them as “propaganda” media.