Nepalese newspaper accuses China of ‘veiled threats against editor’ over coronavirus coverage
- The Kathmandu Post on Tuesday published syndicated column arguing Chinese system of government exacerbated coronavirus outbreak
- In response, Chinese embassy accused editor of bias and said the article ‘smeared the efforts of the Chinese government and people’
A Nepalese newspaper on Thursday slammed Beijing for trying to muzzle free speech after it was accused of “deliberate” and “malicious” smearing by the Chinese embassy in the Himalayan nation.
The reaction from the embassy came as China ordered three Wall Street Journal reporters to leave the country over an op-ed headline that Beijing had deemed racist, one of the country’s harshest moves against foreign media in years.
“The Chinese embassy did not just express its discontent with the article published; it went so far as to disparage the Post’s editor-in-chief and employ threatening language,” The Kathmandu Post said in an editorial.
“The undiplomatic – and frankly menacing – manner in which the Chinese embassy made its objections known is condemnable,” it added.
“The actions of the embassy … can be perceived as a direct threat to the Nepali people’s right to a free press, freedom of opinion and freedom of expression.”
“China can … express its reservations,” the paper said. “What it cannot do, especially in a democracy, is demand that articles be taken down and then issue veiled threats against the editor of a foreign newspaper.”