China ‘expels’ French journalist for supporting Uighur community

Chinese officials have declined to reinstate Ursula Gauthier’s press credentials, making it the first time the country kicked out a foreign reporter since 2012.

In an article published on November 23, Gauthier wrote that in supporting France China “demands in return support from the global community for its own problems with its most restless minority: the Uighurs”. They urged her to recant and apologize; Gauthier refused.

News of Gauthier’s imminent expulsion sparked outrage among colleagues and freedom of speech groups.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said last week the new law would “not have any restriction on the lawful activities of enterprises”.

Her treatment is “a pretext to intimidate foreign correspondents in China, particularly on issues concerning minorities, especially in Tibet and Xinjiang”, she added.

Joerg Wuttke, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, said his group “recognizes the positive developments in terms of removing the language on encryption review and server/data localization in the final draft”, but said they remain concerned about intellectual property rights and censorship.

Several media reported that the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs had asked her to publicly withdraw her report.

Ursula Gauthier’s article’s controversy centered around the Uyghurs, a Muslim, ethnic group that live in the northwestern semi-autonomous province of Xinjiang. Draconian security measures mean independent reporting on many such incidents is virtually impossible. Xinjiang violence: Does China have a terror drawback?

Chinese officials said Sunday that the requirements for the tech firms are necessary because terrorists are increasingly turning to cyberspace. Gauthier was also subjected to a series of vicious online attacks, including death threats.

Gauthier said press freedom in China was “in great danger” and it was not just the global media that were being repressed. Gauthier declined to do so. [But] they are not indicting me, they are expelling me and they expect people to believe that this is the real issue.

Gauthier denies the accusations. It reads, “Do you support the expulsion of the French journalist who sympathized with terrorists?”

Police guard a shopping mall in in China’s western Xinjiang, a region that has seen an uptick in …

“This rule accords with the actual work need of fighting terrorism and is basically the same as what other major countries in the world do”, Li told reporters.

Earlier this week, the US State Department expressed “serious concerns” about the law, saying it would do more harm than good against the threat of terrorism.

China has blamed Uyghur separatists for a series of deadly attacks, and it claims they are no different from ISIS or al Qaeda terrorists.

Meanwhile, Chan has supported Gauthier in a tweet.

Gauthier told the AP on Friday that she expected the move, and was prepared to leave.

“The Chinese press itself has been totally muzzled”, she said.