China Among the Latest in RSF Rankings Argues Against Evidence that Foreign Journalists are "Welcome"

Unhappy with its 177th out of 180 rankings in the World Press Freedom Index, China maintains that foreign journalists are “welcome”. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) recalls that the regime is harassing press correspondents and has just expelled 13 of them.

Following the publication by RSF on April 21 of the 2020 World Press Freedom Index , in which China stagnates 177th out of 180 , Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang assured at A press briefing said that foreign journalists were “welcome” and accused RSF of broadcasting “fake news” because of “prejudice” against his country.

The only prejudice that Beijing can attribute to RSF, the international organization for the defense of journalism, is to consider that violations of press freedom are by no means legitimate ,” replies Cédric Alviani, director of the East Asia office of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which enjoins the Beijing regime to “respect its own constitution, article 35 of which expressly provides for press freedom and has unfortunately never been applied. “

In recent years, President Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party have tightened their grip on Chinese public and private media, stepped up surveillance of social networks, and set out to export their repressive model, as demonstrated by an RSF report published in the last year.

RSF is an international, non-governmental and non-profit organization which defends journalism and freedom of information. Since 2002, the organization has published the evidence-based RSF World Press Freedom Index every year , which is used as a reference by governments, the media and NGOs around the world.

In 2020, China remains the world’s largest prison for journalists, with more than 109 of them behind bars.