New York Times Correspondent Leaves China in Latest Setback for Foreign Journalists

NYT Times Correspondent Leaves China

According to multiple media reports, Chinese authorities declined to issue New York Times (NYT) correspondent Austin Ramzy press credentials in late January 2014.[1] The NYT had applied for press credentials for Ramzy last year after he left Time magazine to join the newspaper.[2] According to China Law & Policy (CLP) Web site, Chinese authorities then failed to act on Ramzy’s press credential application, leaving him unable to apply for a new resident journalist visa.[3] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) maintained that Ramzy “broke Chinese laws and regulations” by failing to change his visa or residence permit status when he was without press accreditation.[4] On January 29, 2014, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China (FCCC) refuted the MOFA claims, stating that “[s]uggestions by Chinese officials that Mr. Ramzy did not correctly comply with Chinese visa regulations are disingenuous; the regulations are unclear and have not been applied to other journalists in similar situations to that of Ramzy.”[5] Ramzy departed Beijing on January 30 for Taiwan, where he will reportedly be starting a new bureau for the NYT.[6]

Some Interpret Official Action as Retribution for Investigative Reporting

The decision to postpone, or deny approval, for Ramzy’s press credentials comes amid growing concern over official attempts to control or curtail foreign investigative reporting. In December 2013, Chinese authorities delayed in renewing the visas for approximately two dozen journalists working for The NYT and Bloomberg.[7] Many reports linked the late visa renewals to prominent 2012 investigative reports by the NYT and Bloomberg, which revealed the extensive overseas assets of Chinese leaders’ family members.[8] In addition to delaying visas, Chinese authorities have also blocked access to the NYT and Bloomberg Web sites in apparent connection to these investigative reports.[9]

Chinese authorities appear to have targeted the New York Times, in particular. The Voice of America specifically noted that “many interpreted [Ramzy’s failure to receive a visa] as an act of retribution after the paper's reporting on the private wealth of government officials.”[10]  The government’s denial of press credentials or a visa makes Ramzy the third NYT journalist in 18 months to not receive journalistic accreditation or a resident journalist visa.[11] The Chinese government has already declined visas for veteran NYT journalist Chris Buckley and incoming NYT Beijing bureau chief Philip P. Pan.[12]  In a December 2013 statement, NYT’s Executive Editor Jill Abramson acknowledged that Chinese officials have “pointedly objected” to NYT’s investigative reports on China’s leaders:

"In conversations in the last year with the Times, Chinese officials have pointedly objected to articles that explore the intersection between elite politics and the economy. In other words, they are asking that the Times and other news organizations refrain from the kind of reporting that we do in every part of the world, including the United States."[13]

Ramzy’s Departure Leads to Concern and Regret

The White House, in a January 29 statement by Press Secretary Jay Carney, expressed deep concerns with the action and China’s burdensome restrictions on foreign journalists:

"The United States is deeply concerned that foreign journalists in China continue to face restrictions that impede their ability to do their jobs, including extended delays in processing journalist visas, restrictions on travel to certain locations deemed ‘sensitive’ by Chinese authorities and, in some cases, violence at the hands of local authorities. These restrictions and treatment are not consistent with freedom of the press—and stand in stark contrast with U.S. treatment of Chinese and other foreign journalists."[14]

The FCCC also expressed regret over the decision to deny Ramzy a visa in a statement:

"The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China strongly regrets that New York Times correspondent Austin Ramzy has been forced to leave mainland China…. In these circumstances it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the authorities are punishing the New York Times for articles it published concerning Premier Wen Jiabao and his family. Such behavior falls well short of international standards."[15]

 Latest Setback Amid Recent Developments in the Treatment of Foreign Journalists

This latest departure signaled a further setback for foreign journalists in China and follows claims of a “deterioration” in the Chinese government’s treatment of foreign journalists in China in recent years.[16] The following cases highlight some of the ongoing challenges journalists have faced in recent months while reporting in China: 

• On November 9, 2013, the NYT reported that the Chinese Foreign Ministry declined to grant journalist Paul Mooney a resident journalist visa to begin a new reporting job for Thomson Reuters. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reportedly did not provide a reason.[17]
• On December 5, 2013, Vice President Joe Biden met with U.S. journalists working in Beijing and reportedly raised the treatment of foreign journalists publicly and privately with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other Chinese officials.[18]
• On December 9, 2013, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China released its 2013 report, which found that “the Chinese authorities are increasingly using the denial of visas, or delays in their approval, in an apparent effort to influence journalists’ coverage.”[19]
• On January 22, 2014, Time reported that Chinese authorities and plainclothes public security officers harassed reporters with CNN, the BBC, and Sky News, as they attempted to cover the trial of Xu Zhiyong, a prominent legal rights advocate and leading proponent of the New Citizens’ Movement,[20] in Beijing.[21]

For more information on the recent treatment of foreign journalists in China, see CECC’s December 2013 roundtable on the issue.  Roundtable panelists included Edward Wong, Correspondent, New York Times; Hannah Beech, East Asia Correspondent and China Bureau Chief, TIME; Bob Dietz, Asia Program Coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists; and Sarah Cook, Senior Research Analyst for East Asia, Freedom House. (Paul Mooney, an American journalist and veteran China reporter who was denied a visa to China in November 2013, submitted a statement for the record.)[22] For more information on press freedoms and the treatment of foreign journalists in China in recent years, see Section II—Freedom of Expression in the CECC 2013 Annual Report, pp. (63–66), and Section II—Freedom of Expression in the CECC 2012 Annual Report, pp. (56–58).