Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 12: Looking at the developments in China from Indian perspective will end from the next month with the last of the Indian journalist in China having been asked to leave the country by June end as Beijing and New Delhi eject each other’s reporters in a tit-for-tat row deepening a rift between the Asian economic powerhouses.
The eviction of accredited journalists from China and India is the latest flashpoint in the strained relationship between the two neighbouring countries since the militaries of the two countries clashed in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh three years ago in June 2020. Tensions had flared at multiple friction points, with both countries stationing tens of thousands of troops backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets.
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. Reports on China in the Indian media would now be restricted to what the western media feed or through short visits of Indians to China, if and as and when it happened.
The Chinese authorities have instructed the Press Trust of India reporter to leave the country this month. His departure will wipe India’s media presence from the world’s second largest economy at a moment of deteriorating ties. Indian media outlets had four reporters based in China earlier this year. The Hindustan Times reporter left over the weekend, while two journalists from public broadcaster Prasar Bharati and The Hindu newspaper were denied visa renewals in China in April.
Last month, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning had alleged that the action against Indian reporters was taken as Chinese reporters had been subjected to “unfair and discriminatory treatment” in India for a long time. She said that the number of Chinese journalists in India has plummeted from 14 to just one.
“In 2017, the Indian side shortened the period of validity of visas held by Chinese journalists in India to three months or even one month without any valid reason,” Mao had claimed. “Since 2020, the Indian side has refused to review and approve Chinese journalists’ applications for stationing in India.” She said there was only one Chinese journalist left in India, who was still awaiting renewal of their visa. Earlier, New Delhi rejected visa renewal applications from two journalists from Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television.
This was despite the Indian government’s claim that while the Chinese reporters had been operating in India without any difficulty, this was not the case for Indian journalists in China. Both countries were in touch over the issue, it had added. On June 2, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said that New Delhi allowed all foreign journalists to operate in India without any difficulties. Bagchi had said the Indian government allows foreign journalists to hire locals to run their bureaus. Drawing a comparison with the neighbouring country, he said Indian journalists face several restrictions while travelling within China.
The visa spat started a few months ago over Indian journalists hiring assistants in China to help with reporting, some Indian officials said. Beijing imposed measures limiting employment to three individuals at a time who must come from a pool provided by the Chinese authorities, they said. India doesn’t have a cap on hiring.
Relations between Beijing and New Delhi have been tense for the last three years and though China since had sought to keep the clash over Galwan Valley separate from the overall relationship and focus on trade and economic ties, India has said relations cannot go back to normal until the border issue is resolved.
The visa rejections come as India hosts the Group of Twenty and the Chinese-founded Shanghai Cooperation Dialogue meetings this year. Xi is expected to attend the G-20 leaders’ summit in September as China looks to build its diplomatic and political presence globally.
China and the US have also been in a years-long dispute over journalist visas. After the Trump administration designated a handful of Chinese media companies as “foreign missions” and put caps on the number of Chinese journalists in the country, Beijing responded by revoking press credentials for reporters at US media companies.
In 2020, two Australian journalists based in China fled the country as diplomatic tensions worsened between the two nations. The two men were initially banned from leaving and spent five days under consular protection until Australian diplomats could negotiate their departure. That year, Beijing accused Canberra of raiding the homes of Chinese state-media staff and seizing their property.
Media reports said the visa spat between New Delhi and Beijing was over Indian journalists hiring assistants in China to help with their reporting. While India has no cap on hiring locals for assistance in reporting, Beijing had limited employment to three individuals at a time who must come from a pool provided by the Chinese authorities.
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.
If New Delhi sticks to its decision not to renew the visa of the last Chinese journalist in India, it will be the first time since 1980 that China would be without media presence in the country. Almost all of Chinese media is state owned.
Mao Ning justified Beijing’s strategy against Indian journalists. “The number of Chinese journalists stationed in India is about to drop to zero,” Mao said. “Considering this, the Chinese side has no choice but to take appropriate counter measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese media organisations.” “The status of Indian journalists in China would depend on India’s support for Chinese journalists,” she had said.
The two sides have been negotiating the imbroglio. China is reportedly demanding that India must provide Chinese journalists year-long visas instead of the three-month permits they had been receiving. New Delhi has been issuing these short-term visas in recent years because it claimed that some Chinese state media reporters were allegedly involved in non-journalistic activities in India.
