The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
May 9, 2012

Al Jazeera Closes China Bureau Over Visa Denial 
------------------------------------------------


 
The news network Al Jazeera has closed its bureau in China after the
Chinese government refused to renew its correspondent's visa. It is
believed to be the first time an accredited foreign correspondent has
been forced to leave China in more than 10 years. Peter Ford of the
Foreign Correspondents' Club of China accused the Chinese government of
censorship.

Peter Ford: "The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China finds it quite
unacceptable that the government should use editorial content as a
criteria by which it grants or withholds journalistic visas because that
undermines foreign correspondents' freedom to report and the government
says that it strongly upholds that freedom."

 

.