【新唐人2014年02月03日讯】美国《纽约时报》驻北京记者王霜舟，日前因为签证被拒，被迫离开中国，这是13个月来，第二名《纽约时报》记者因拿不到签证，而被迫离开中国大陆。美国白宫发言人针对这起事件，罕见的发表声明，谴责中共当局限制和阻碍外国记者工作，是在践踏新闻自由。
据《美国之音》报导，美国白宫发言人卡尼在1月30号发表声明说：中国拖延外国记者签证，限制他们前往政府认为的“敏感地区”，在一些案例中，地方政府甚至采取暴力手段。这种做法违反了新闻自由，跟美国对待中国和其他外国记者的做法截然相反。
白宫罕见的声明，引发了众多驻华外国记者的共鸣。记者们指出，中共当局用各种手段刁难外国记者的现象并不是个例，而且非常普遍。
据了解，王霜舟是13个月来，第二名因拿不到签证而被迫离开中国大陆的《纽约时报》记者。
“国际记者联合会”香港和中国区代表胡丽云：“这一次是第二个美国记者拿不到签证，其实还有记者也是美国的，去申请的时候也拿不到，或者就是一直在等。我们对于现在中央政府，对于外国记者在中国做工作或者采访，好像对他们有怨言，我们不晓得它背后原因是什么。只不过我们看着就是一些甚至拿不到，甚至一直在等，或者就是甚至给拒绝，要求他离开。”
白宫的声明还说：《纽约时报》记者王霜舟因为中国拖延颁发签证而被迫离开中国，我们深感失望。我们继续关注“王霜舟事件”，以及另外几名美国记者等待几个月，甚至几年，都没有得到记者证和签证的问题。
另一名《纽约时报》驻北京记者黄安伟(Edward Wong)，在王霜舟离开的当天发推文说，中国正徒劳的企图通过封杀记者签证和全球网站，来影响新闻报导。
胡丽云：“可能他们去做采访报导的时候，就对中国政府做了一些批评，或者他们对于一些社会里边不公平的事情揭露出来，就出现他们去申请做签证的时候就有困难。我们觉得中国中央政府，就按照记者他们去采访报导的内容，来决定记者他们可以拿得到签证还是拿不到。透过工作签证作为门槛，去影响新闻自由是很明显的一点。”
原《河北人民广播电台》编辑朱欣欣：“中共对境外媒体在中驻华记者格外警惕，唯恐给它们带来所谓不利的影响和报导。但是它完全拒绝国外的也不可能，它只是想利用国外的媒体报，只是报导对他有利的内容，一旦国外的媒体，驻华记者总是挑一些报它认为不愿意的看到的报导，就要打压、封杀 、不给签证。”
此外，外国驻华记者俱乐部、国际记者联合会等组织，以及一些海内外记者、媒体人，都对中共当局的做法表示“ 非常失望、愤怒和遗憾”。
朱欣欣：“这实际上不仅违背操守，违背新闻自由的世界共同认可的法制，它也是专制的文化在新闻方面的一个反映。”
“国际记者联合会”香港和中国区代表胡丽云指出，一份刚刚出来的关于中国和香港新闻自由状况的调查显示，在过去的一年中，中国新闻状况越来越差。尤其是《央视》（CCTV）播放的有关“微博大V”薛蛮子、和《新快报》记者陈永洲认罪忏悔的镜头。胡丽云表示，无论当事人是否自由，作为媒体，都不应该在法庭宣布审判结果之前，播出相关认罪画面，这一点，严重违反专业新闻的专业操守，和国际公约。
胡丽云认为，《CCTV》彻底沦为了当局的宣传工具，而不是一个新闻媒体。
胡丽云还呼吁联合国人权委员会，尽快调查中共对新闻自由打压的真实情况，使外国记者能有一个正常的工作和采访环境。
采访/朱智善 编辑/张天宇 后制/萧宇
White House Concerned As U.S. Journalist Forced Out of China
Beijing-based New York Times (NYT) reporter
Austin Ramzy, has been forced to leave China,
after his visa renewal request was denied.
Austin became the second NYT correspondent in 13 months
that has had to leave China, because of visa problems.
A White House spokesman later made
a rare announcement about the incident.
They criticized the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
for “restricting the ability of journalists to do their work.”
This is clearly suppression of freedom of the press.
Voice of America (VOA) quoted Jay Carney, White House
press secretary, who made an announcement on January 30.
Mr. Carney said that the CCP impedes
foreign journalists from doing their job.
With “extended delays in processing journalist visas,
restrictions on travel to certain locations deemed
‘sensitive’ by Chinese authorities, and in some
cases, violence at the hands of local authorities”.
“These restrictions and treatment are not consistent with
freedom of the press—and stand in stark contrast with
U.S. treatment of Chinese and other foreign journalists.”
The White House statement was soon echoed
by many foreign journalists based in China.
They said the CCP commonly obstructs their work
by all possible means, not only in individual cases.
Austin Ramzy is known to be the second NYT reporter
obliged to leave China through denial of visa application.
Hu Liyun, International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
representative, Hong Kong and China region: “This is the
second U.S. reporter whose visa application was denied.
In fact there are many other U.S. journalists who
failed to get, or are still waiting for, their China visa.
We feel that the CCP regime seems to have
complaints over foreign journalist activities in China.
However, we don’t know what the real reason is for that.
We can only see many visa applications
have been delayed or even denied.
This has forced correspondents to leave the country.”
The White House statement also said that:
“We are very disappointed that New York Times reporter
Austin Ramzy was forced to leave China today, because
of processing delays for his press credentials”.
“We remain concerned that Mr. Ramzy, and
several other U.S. journalists, have waited
months, and in some cases years, for a decision
on their press credentials and visa applications.”
Edward Wong, another NYT reporter in Beijing,
tweeted on the day Mr. Ramzy left China.
Wong said that the CCP authority was making
futile efforts to control media reports globally.
It was doing this by blocking journalists’
visas, as well as overseas websites.
Hu Liyun: “Possibly those journalists’ reports
had expressed some criticism against the party.
Or perhaps it revealed real injustice in Chinese society.
These activities then caused difficulties with their visa.
We believe that the CCP regime makes decisions
about whether to approve a visa for a journalist
according to what they have reported.
Obviously, they are using working visa
as a tool to restrict freedom of the press.”
Zhu Xinxin, former editor, Hebei Provincial Radio: “The party
is especially nervous with foreign journalists in China.
It fears for the so-called ‘negative’
social impact because of their reports.
On the other hand, it cannot block
all of them outside the state.
Indeed the party is only willing to see positive
reports from foreign media for its own benefits.
Once foreign media or journalists report something
against its favor, the CCP will suppress them by
blocking their reports or denying visa applications.”
In addition to foreign Correspondents’ Club of China
and IFJ, many other journalists and media workers
also expressed their “disappointment, anger and
regret” towards this latest decision by the CCP.
Zhu Xinxin: “This not only violates freedom of the press
and international rules protecting journalists’ rights.
It also reflects how autocracy affects media and their reports.”
Hu Liyun, IFJ representative, highlighted it’s latest
report on Press Freedom in China and Hong Kong.
It shows that the working environment for
journalists has worsened during the past year.
CCTV has broadcast footages of “confessions”
by Weibo “Big V” commentator Xue Manzi,
and New Express journalist Chen Yongzhou.
Hu said that any media should not broadcast the footages
of these “confessions” before a court verdict was made.
This is regardless of whether the
defendant was detained or not.
That was in serious violation of professional
ethics,as well as international treaties.
Hu Liyun says that instead of news media,
CCTV was only a propaganda tool for the party.
Hu further called on UN Commission on Human Rights
to investigate the CCP suppression of press freedom.
This is to protect the working environment
of foreign journalists working in China.
Interview/ZhuZhiShan Edit/ZhangTianYu Post-Production/XiaoYu
