US says China 'afraid' of free media after new restrictions
10 September, 2020
AMERICA on Tuesday (Sep 8) accused China of fearing a free media since it denounced Beijing's new restrictions on the international press.
China's foreign ministry "has informed us that they intend to further limit access for foreign journalists working in the PRC," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said.
"These proposed actions will worsen the reporting environment in China, which is already suffering a dearth of open and independent media reporting," she wrote on Twitter.
"Why is the CCP afraid of independent and investigative media reporting?" she said, discussing the Chinese Communist Party.
China warned on Tuesday that foreign journalists must "obey the law" to work in the united states.
It made the announcement after investigating two Australian journalists who fled on Tuesday under diplomatic protection, fearing arrest.
Fellow Australian journalist Cheng Lei has been detained since last month, and China has acknowledged she actually is being held on national security grounds.
China has recently expelled US journalists from major newspapers, raising concerns that Beijing is wanting to stop investigative reporting, including on human rights.
Beijing acted against US journalists following the STATE DEPT. tightened regulations on Chinese state media outlets, calling them propaganda, although it did not restrict their journalists' to report inside the United States.
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