Statement on the expulsion of WSJ journalists and Chinese journalists
The FPA which has represented the global press based in the US for over a century condemns the arbitrary restrictions proposed on Chinese journalists in the USA.
For years overseas reporters in the United States have benefitted from implied First Amendment rights that protected their work, giving them insights into how a free press should work.
The U.S. authorities should not impose restrictions on international journalists on the false assumption that media personnel necessarily share the views of their proprietors or governments, just as the PRC should not punish WSJ reporters for views expressed elsewhere in their paper.
FPA President Ian Williams said, “I have helped Chinese journalists to report stories that may have put them at great personal risk and assisted some of them to find jobs outside the state media. They are inspired by the freedom of the press in the U.S. and strive to live up to international press standards. We are well aware of Beijing’s controls on the media, but this tit-for-tat move is ill-considered and counterproductive for the cause of press freedom. It sends precisely the wrong message."
For years overseas reporters in the United States have benefitted from implied First Amendment rights that protected their work, giving them insights into how a free press should work.
The U.S. authorities should not impose restrictions on international journalists on the false assumption that media personnel necessarily share the views of their proprietors or governments, just as the PRC should not punish WSJ reporters for views expressed elsewhere in their paper.
FPA President Ian Williams said, “I have helped Chinese journalists to report stories that may have put them at great personal risk and assisted some of them to find jobs outside the state media. They are inspired by the freedom of the press in the U.S. and strive to live up to international press standards. We are well aware of Beijing’s controls on the media, but this tit-for-tat move is ill-considered and counterproductive for the cause of press freedom. It sends precisely the wrong message."