China, India visa dispute threatens to sideline last journalists in each country

Beijing claims Chinese reporters face ‘discriminatory treatment’, calls on New Delhi to remove ‘unreasonable’ visa restrictions
Relations between the countries have deteriorated since deadly border clash in 2020

China-India relations

Kawala Xie

Published: 8:56pm, 12 Jun 2023

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China has called on India to resume visa reviews and remove “unreasonable” restrictions on Chinese journalists based in India, after Chinese reporters were denied residence permits and bank cards because of what China says is “discriminatory treatment”.

The comments by China’s foreign ministry were the latest flareup in a simmering visa dispute between the two countries, following Beijing’s reported refusal to renew a visa for the last Indian reporter working in China.

China and India are in the midst of a geopolitical split

According to reports, the last of four Indian reporters permanently-based in China had been denied a visa and was asked by Chinese authorities to leave the country by the end of this month. It came after India took the same action against two Chinese journalists based there.

“One is still working and living in China,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said, when asked about the fate of the last Indian journalists in China. He did not comment on the visa status of the reporter, or the prospect of a visa renewal.

“China has always treated Indian journalists in China as kind as friends and family members. China has exercised restraint, upheld goodwill, and communicated with the Indian side many times. However, it is regrettable that India has not taken any action to solve the problem,” he said.

Wang slammed what he called India’s “discriminatory” and “unfair” treatment against Chinese journalists in India, citing an account in an article written by Hu Xiaoming, state news agency Xinhua’s former bureau chief in New Delhi, who said he was asked to leave India earlier this year because he was based there “too long”.

“Some Chinese journalists have been waiting for visas in India for three years. Some journalists have been stationed in India for five years, and the validity period of visas obtained by them for seven consecutive times is less than one month, or even only 15 days,” Wang said, adding that as a result, those journalists were left unable to apply for residence permits, mobile and banking cards, and driving licences.

Beijing said earlier that only one Chinese journalist was now permanently based in India, whose visa has still not been renewed by authorities. Beijing said New Delhi had repeatedly refused to approve new visa applications for Chinese journalists and had only granted short-term visas of up to three months.

At one point, China had 14 journalists permanently based in India.

Chinese and Indian leaders continue to keep each other at arm’s length

The Indian foreign ministry denied earlier this month that it used visa restrictions against Chinese journalists to hinder media contacts between the two countries. Instead, it accused China of creating obstacles for Indian journalists to hire locals to help with their reporting there.

Relations between the two Asian powers have deteriorated since a deadly clash in 2020 in the Galwan Valley – a disputed section of their shared border in the Himalayan region.

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A few rounds of military talks have been held since to ease the border tensions, and both sides agreed to disengage from the disputed region last September.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has not yet held a bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he resumed in-person diplomacy following three years of Covid-19 restrictions. The two leaders greeted each other briefly during a Group of 20 summit in Indonesia last year.

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