Amid heightened geopolitical tensions, India and China are denying visa extensions to each other’s journalists, each effectively expelling almost all media personnel from the rival country in recent months.
As a consequence, the understanding Indians have of their enormous neighbour stands to be impaired, say Indian correspondents who have previously reported from China. The absence of Indian journalists in China will deprive Indian audiences of an Indian perspective on Beijing’s view of the simmering border conflict as well as developments in the world’s second-largest economy, they say.
Tit-for-tat expulsions
Beijing’s revocation in recent months of the accreditations of three Indian correspondents and decision to freeze the visas of two, effectively barring them from returning to China to work, comes in retaliation to Delhi’s measures against Chinese state media journalists. China has also reportedly threatened counter-measures against the last Indian accredited reporter in Beijing if the visa of the last Chinese correspondent in India is not renewed.
If this happens, it will be the first time since the 1980s that no Chinese journalists from its large state media will be stationed in India, The Wall Street Journal reported. Almost all of Chinese media is state owned.
On May 31, China’s foreign ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning justified Beijing’s strategy against Indian journalists. “The number of Chinese journalists stationed in India is about…
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