US urges China not to restrict journalists' freedom at Beijing Olympics

The United States has urged China not to restrict journalists' access and movement as they report on the 2022 Winter Olympics, local media reported. American officials, while not revealing whether the US would participate in the Games, said Washington would continue to raise concerns over China's human rights issues.

Washington (US): The United States has urged China not to restrict journalists' access and movement as they report on the 2022 Winter Olympics, local media reported. American officials, while not revealing whether the US would participate in the Games, said Washington would continue to raise concerns over China's human rights issues, Voice of America (VOA) reported.

"We urge PRC (People's Republic of China) officials not to limit freedom of movement and access for journalists, and to ensure that they remain safe and able to report freely, including at the Olympic and the Paralympic Games," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said during Thursday's press briefing.

In a statement this week, Beijing-based journalists expressed deep concerns about "the lack of transparency and clarity" of Olympics-related reporting in China, VOA reported. According to VOA, the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China said in a tweet that "over the last year, the foreign press corps has been continuously stymied in its coverage of Winter Olympic Game preparations, denied attendance at routine events, and prevented from visiting sports venues in China."

"We put together a TV story with material from a tour of an Olympic venue and mentioned human rights boycotts," VOA quoted a reporter at an international broadcaster. "Soon after, the tour organizer called me on WeChat, the Chinese chat app, and yelled at me in English and Chinese for my report, threatening not to invite us in the future. We haven't been given access since."

Meanwhile, Human rights activists and both Democratic and Republican members of the US Congress have called for a boycott of the Winter Olympics because of China's human rights record. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States will continue to raise concerns about human rights issues as it works with China on areas of aligning interest such as Iran, North Korea and the climate crisis, VOA reported.

ANI