China calls on India to reach mutual agreement in dispute over 2 countries’ reporters

By Alperen Aktas

ISTANBUL (AA) – China urged India on Monday to meet it halfway to resolve a dispute over journalists working in each other’s countries.

Calling for a "mutual resolution" in visa dispute cases involving Chinese and Indian journalists, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said “in recent years, India has treated Chinese media outlets in an unfair and discriminatory manner.”

Wang was reacting to reports that China has declined to renew the visas of the last two Indian journalists based in China, citing a similar action by India against the two remaining journalists working there for Chinese state media.

One of the Indian reporters left China on Sunday as his visa had expired, while the other will leave when his visa expires later this month.

"We hope that India will continue to issue visas for Chinese journalists and remove the unreasonable restrictions and create favorable conditions for media exchanges,” Wang told reporters in Beijing, according to a transcript released by the ministry.

Beijing and New Delhi have accused each other of denying visas to journalists from each other’s countries.

The developments came as China and India have remained locked in a standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) – the de facto border between China and India in the Ladakh area of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region -- since May 2020.

In June 2020, at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed in a border clash.

Meanwhile, referring to the case of jailed Wikileaks whistleblower Julian Assange, Wang said: "It is not Julian Assange who should stand for trial for telling people the truth, but the hacking empire who indiscriminately spies on and steals secrets from countries around the world and uses every means possible to cover up the wrongdoing it has committed."