This article is from the source 'washpo' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/french-journalist-expected-to-leave-china-over-reporting/2015/12/25/1d7bf4e8-ab88-11e5-b596-113f59ee069a_story.html

The article has changed 9 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
China expels French reporter who questioned terrorism China ‘expels’ French journalist for terrorism coverage
(about 3 hours later)
BEIJING — China said Saturday it will not renew press credentials for a French journalist, effectively expelling her following a harsh media campaign against her for questioning the official line equating ethnic violence in the western Muslim region with global terrorism. China didn't like Ursula Gauthier's reporting — so they are kicking her out of the country.
Expecting the move, Ursula Gauthier, a long-time journalist for the French news magazine L’Obs, said late Friday night she was prepared to leave China. The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Saturday confirmed that the French journalist, Beijing correspondent for L’Obs, a French news magazine, will be expelled from the country over an essay she wrote questioning the Chinese government's rhetoric on terror.
Once she departs on Dec. 31, she will be the first foreign journalist forced to leave China since 2012, when American Melissa Chan, then working for Al Jazeera in Beijing, was expelled. In a written statement, a Lu Kang, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, said Gauthier was no longer "suitable" for her job in China and would not be issued press credential for 2016.  Lu charged that Gauthier's reporting "emboldened" terrorists.
“They want a public apology for things that I have not written,” Gauthier said. “They are accusing me of writing things that I have not written.” Chinese Foreign Ministry confirms expulsion of French journalist for her story on terrorism, more to follow pic.twitter.com/AMnljKvohd — CCTVNEWS (@cctvnews) December 26, 2015
In a written statement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Gauthier is no longer “suitable” to be allowed to work in China because she had supported “terrorism and cruel acts” that killed civilians and refused to apologize for her words. Chinese Foreign Ministry confirms expulsion of French journalist for her story on terrorism, more to follow pic.twitter.com/AMnljKvohd
“China has always protected the legal rights of foreign media and foreign correspondents to report within the country, but China does not tolerate the freedom to embolden terrorism,” Lu said. — CCTVNEWS (@cctvnews) December 26, 2015
Gauthier on Saturday called the accusations “absurd,” and said that emboldening terrorism is morally and legally wrong. “I should be legally persecuted if that’s the case.” Gauthier is the first foreign journalist to be expelled from China since 2012, when Al Jazeera's Melissa Chan was forced to leave after doing a series of stories on secret prisons. The New York Times and Bloomberg were also denied new journalist visas after publishing prize-winning stories about the wealth of China's top leaders and their families. (Both companies have since been issued new visas.)
“All this is rhetoric,” Gauthier said. “It’s only meant to deter foreign correspondents in the future in Beijing.” The Foreign Correspondents Club of China, the Committee to Protect Journalists and the French Embassy in Beijing, have all expressed concern about the case.
The fallout began with Gauthier’s Nov. 18 article, shortly after the attacks in Paris. She wrote that Beijing’s proclaimed solidarity with Paris is not without ulterior motives, as Beijing seeks international support for its assertion that the ethnic violence in its Muslim region of Xinjiang is part of global terrorism. Gauthier, a veteran journalist, has been in Beijing's crosshairs since November, when she wrote an essay about China's response to the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris.
Gauthier wrote that some of the violent attacks in Xinjiang involving members of the minority Uighurs appeared to be homegrown with no evidence of foreign ties — an observation that has been made by numerous foreign experts on security and on Xinjiang’s ethnic policies and practices. The piece suggested Beijing's expression of solidarity post-Paris 'had "ulterior motives," namely a desire to get the international support for its claim that violence in China's Xinjing Uighur Autonomous Region is linked to a global war on terror.
Advocacy groups have argued that the violence is more likely to be a response to Beijing’s suppressive policies in Xinjiang. Beijing maintains that violent unrest in Xinjiang is linked to international terror groups and often accuses foreign governments — and foreign reporters — of having a "double standard" on terrorism.
Beijing blames the violence on terrorism with foreign ties. Amid a counter-terrorism campaign, a Xinjiang court last year sentenced a Uighur scholar critical of China’s ethnic policies in Xinjiang to life in prison. This month, a Beijing court convicted a prominent lawyer of fanning ethnic hatred based on his comments that Beijing should rethink its Xinjiang policies. Many foreign scholars and rights groups say that what's happening in China's far northwest is less about global jihad than China's suppression of its Uighur population.
In her article, Gauthier focused on a deadly mine attack in a remote region of Xinjiang, which she described as more likely an act by Uighurs against mine workers of the majority Han ethnic group over what the Uighurs perceived as mistreatment, injustice and exploitation. Symptoms, root causes of terrorism should be addressed. Double standard shouldn't be allowed https://t.co/kpYOW2QSh7 pic.twitter.com/eXIOTzbNNJ — China Xinhua News (@XHNews) November 16, 2015
The article quickly drew stern criticism from state media and the Chinese government. Symptoms, root causes of terrorism should be addressed. Double standard shouldn't be allowed https://t.co/kpYOW2QSh7 pic.twitter.com/eXIOTzbNNJ
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized Western media for using double standards in reporting on the violence. — China Xinhua News (@XHNews) November 16, 2015
“Why is terrorism in other countries called terrorist actions, but it turns out to be ethnic and religious issues in China?” ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular news briefing on Dec. 2. In the immediate aftermath of the Paris attacks, Chinese officials released details about a deadly attack at a coal mine in Xinjiang. China called it a coordinated terror attack; Gauthier's report suggested otherwise. What happened in Paris and what happened at the coal mine attacked had "nothing in common," she wrote.
By then, state media had launched an abusive and intimidating campaign against Gauthier, accusing her of having deep prejudice against China and having hurt the feelings of the Chinese people. The incident in Xinjiang was "an explosion of local rage," Gauthier said. "Pushed to the limit, a small group of Uighurs armed with cleavers set upon a coal mine and its Han Chinese workers, probably in revenge for an abuse, an injustice or an expropriation."
On Friday, Gauthier said that the Foreign Ministry demanded her to apologize for “hurting Chinese people’s feelings with wrong and hateful actions and words,” and to publicly state that she recognizes that there have been terrorist attacks in and outside Xinjiang. Soon after the piece was published, Gauthier was attacked in a series of stories in China's tightly controlled state-backed press. Commenters published her photograph and address online and threatened her with violence.
She said she was also asked to distance herself from any support group that presents her case as infringement of press freedom in China. Journalist Ursula Gauthier was attacked by the Chinese state media for her reporting on terrorism and Xinjiang. https://t.co/w3ieK3PgSX — CPJ Asia Desk (@cpjasia) November 29, 2015
___ Journalist Ursula Gauthier was attacked by the Chinese state media for her reporting on terrorism and Xinjiang. https://t.co/w3ieK3PgSX
Associated Press writer Louise Watt contributed to this report. — CPJ Asia Desk (@cpjasia) November 29, 2015
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Chinese Foreign Ministry later blasted Gauthier for "hurting Chinese people's feelings with wrong and hateful actions and words." They urged her to recant and apologize; Gauthier refused.
"They want a public apology for things that I have not written," she told the Associated Press.  "They are accusing me of writing things that I have not written."
Gu Jinglu reported from Beijing. 
Read More:
Islamic State hostage killing complicates China's terror debateChina expels al-Jazeera reporter as media relations sourChina accuses party members of support for Dalai Lama and even terrorism