Foreign journalists in China restricted and tracked in 2022

BEIJING: Foreign media in China endured strict Covid controls, widespread harassment and constant surveillance in 2022, a press group said on Wednesday.

Nearly half of foreign journalists in the country were ordered to leave a place or denied access on health and safety grounds last year despite presenting “no health risk by China´s own standards”, the Foreign Correspondents´ Club of China (FCCC) said in its annual report.

Almost 40 percent said at least one of their sources had been harassed, detained, questioned or suffered other negative consequences from speaking to foreign media, while 45 percent reported similar official pressure on Chinese colleagues.

China maintained some of the world´s tightest Covid restrictions for most of last year, curbing travel into and around the country while imposing lengthy quarantines and mass testing regimes.