TAIPEI, May 31 (Reuters) – Taiwan’s presidential office condemned China on Sunday after the New York Times said one of its reporters was expelled from the country following an interview the newspaper did with Taiwan President Lai Ching-te.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and Lai as a “separatist.” He rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says only the island’s people can decide their future.
The New York Times said on Friday that its reporter Vivian Wang was expelled by China in February.
The paper cited an explanation from Chinese officials that it was in response to its DealBook summit’s December video interview with Lai, and said Wang did not take part.
Taiwan’s presidential office spokesperson Karen Kuo said it was standard practice for Lai to take interviews and explain the government’s stance to the world.
“China’s use of groundless pretexts and crude methods to threaten the media and interfere with press freedom not only fails to improve its international image, but also highlights that today’s China is indeed a source of instability,” she said in a statement.
Neither China’s foreign ministry nor the U.S. State Department immediately responded to requests for comment.
Wang was previously based in China, where she covered issues including censorship and Beijing’s response to COVID. She also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kuo said that Taiwan “will not be silenced by oppression” and will continue to present its stance to the international community in a “steady and responsible manner”.
Taiwan has complained China has intensified what Taipei calls “transnational repression,” including putting sanctions on Taiwanese officials and lawmakers even though Chinese law has no jurisdiction on the island.
Foreign reporters in China are generally granted only a one-year visa, which must be renewed annually and can be revoked at any time.
China expelled more than a dozen foreign journalists at U.S. media organizations in 2020, amid a series of tit-for-tat actions between the countries. Washington also cut the number of journalists permitted to work in the United States to just four major Chinese state-owned media outlets.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; editing by Barbara Lewis)
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