A journalist uses a phone to take photos during a National People’s Congress press conference in Beijing in March 2019. The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China annual survey finds conditions for the foreign press deteriorated in 2019. (AFP/Wang Zhao) Conditions for foreign correspondents in China deteriorated in 2019, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) annual survey found. The report, published today, noted that for a second year none of the respondents gave a positive response when asked if conditions had improved.

The report, “Control, Halt, Delete: Reporting in China under Threat of Expulsion,” found that Chinese authorities increasingly use the threat of expulsion and visa denial to retaliate and warn against critical foreign coverage; summon journalists to meetings with officials; and harass Chinese citizens who work for the foreign press. The report is based on responses from 114 of the club’s members.

The FCCC documented nine cases of expulsion and non-renewal of visas since Xi Jinping took power in 2013 and warned against a potential rise in the practice. In 2019, more journalists received short-term visas valid for six months or less, and at the beginning of 2020 two correspondents received credentials of only one month, the survey found. Continue leyendo →