MCLC: Biden criticizes foreign press crackdown

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: pjmooney <pjmooney at me.com>
Subject: Biden criticizes foreign press crackdown
***********************************************************

Source: NYT (12/4/13):
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/06/world/asia/biden-faults-china-on-foreign-
press-crackdown.html

Biden Faults China on Foreign Press Crackdown
By Mark Landler

BEIJING — Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. sharply criticized the
Chinese government’s crackdown on the foreign press, telling an audience
of American business people Thursday that the United States had “profound
disagreements” with its “treatment of U.S. journalists.”

“Innovation thrives where people breathe freely, speak freely, are able to
challenge orthodoxy, where newspapers can report the truth without fear of
consequences,” Mr. Biden declared, a day after he met with President Xi
Jinping on contentious security issues. Mr. Biden raised the issue of the
government’s treatment of foreign reporters with Mr. Xi, a senior
administration official said.

The Chinese authorities have held up renewing the accreditation of roughly
two dozen correspondents from The New York Times and Bloomberg News in the
wake of the publication of investigative articles about the wealth of the
families of top Chinese leaders.

The government’s actions, which appear aimed at the news organizations
rather than at individual reporters, threaten to shut down the China news
bureaus of The Times and Bloomberg, as well as harm their business
operations in the country.

Mr. Biden on Thursday kept up the public pressure on China over its
declaration of an air defense zone in the contested waters of the East
China Sea. The zone, which has drawn fierce protests from Japan and sowed
fears of a clash between the two countries, was a major focus of the five
and a half hours of meetings on Wednesday between Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi.

“China’s recent and sudden announcement of the establishment of a new air
defense identification zone has, to state the obvious, caused significant
apprehension in the region,” Mr. Biden said. “I was very direct about our
firm position and our expectations in my conversation with Mr. Xi.”

Mr. Biden urged China to refrain from steps that would raise tensions and
he said the Chinese government needed to communicate better with its
neighbors to avoid accidents or miscalculation.