The time could come in a few weeks: Beijing has asked the last Indian journalist in China to leave the country. Press Trust correspondents will leave the country at the end of this month. As of 2020, 14 Indian correspondents are still working in China. The backdrop is the tension of border conflicts between nuclear powers; China accuses India of obstructing the work of Chinese correspondents in the country.

This is not the first time journalists in China have been caught between the front lines of bilateral tensions. Triggered by an opinion piece at Wall Street Journal China has expelled three of the paper’s correspondents in 2020. After a row with the Trump administration, which in turn limited the number of visas for Chinese state media, at least 18 journalists went missing. New York Timefrom Wall Street Journal And Washington Post their work permits – the biggest wave of expulsions since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.

In its major conflict with the West, which the party believes is under the leadership of Xi Jinping, Beijing has systematically restricted access to independent information. In recent months, it has blocked two important databases for foreign analysts and researchers, and under the pretext of national security, new espionage laws have the potential to criminalize any transfer of data out of the country.

In the press freedom ranking, China is ranked 179th out of 180

To strengthen its influence, Beijing operates radio and television stations around the world, most of which are free to operate; In contrast, an annual survey of foreign correspondents in China named 2022 one of the most difficult years ever. Reporters Without Borders ranks the People’s Republic of China 179th out of 180 countries in its press freedom ranking.

The number of foreign journalists is at an all-time low. The most important reason is the difficulty of accessing journalist visas. Whether and how quickly the media accepts visas is determined by the country’s political relationship with China. Therefore, Canada and Australia, which have been in dispute with Beijing for years, no longer have a single correspondent for domestic media on site. Several journalists had to flee the country after receiving threats.

A tug-of-war has been going on behind the scenes on every visa since 2020 between Germany and China, underlining their partnership with government consultations next week. After no visas were issued by the Chinese side at the start of the pandemic and correspondents were barred from entering the country despite valid work permits, there is now a compromise. However, it is much worse than in 2019: German editors only accept visas if Chinese media also want to send journalists to Germany. However, the Chinese side decides which media will be given first access on the German waiting list. Unwanted journalists have to wait.