DHARAMSHALA, June 12: Chinese diplomats have threatened and harassed a French journalist after he visited Tibet and secretly filmed a documentary which was broadcast last month on France 24.
Cyril Payen was able to obtain a seven-day visa to Lhasa, Tibet’s ancient capital, which has been off limits to journalists since the 2008 uprisings against China’s rule.
Payen entered the territory in early May in order to make the report, Seven Day’s in Tibet on China’s repression, military occupation and the destruction of Tibetan culture.
Following the broadcast, furious Chinese diplomats in Paris went to France 24’s headquarters to demand the documentary be taken off its website, a request the channel refused to comply with.
When Payen, who is France 24’s correspondent in Thailand returned to Bangkok, the Chinese embassy asked him to come to a meeting at the embassy as soon as possible.
Payen said he was ready to meet at a hotel but the diplomats insisted on the embassy as venue.
He subsequently received several anonymous calls and a number of text messages.
An audio message from a female member of staff told him to comply with the request or “take the responsibility” for his refusal.
Global media rights group, Reporters Without Borders, expressed outrage at the behavior of Chinese diplomats and said, “such unacceptable behaviour might be expected from the mafia but not from senior diplomats.”
“It is acceptable for an embassy to express its disagreement with a report. But it is completely unacceptable for diplomats stationed in France and Thailand to try to intimidate a news outlet into modifying editorial content, to harangue a journalist and to summon him with the intention of interrogating him,” RSF said in a statement Tuesday.
“Such methods are undoubtedly normal in China, and that is regrettable, but they have no place in a free country. The telephone threats that these diplomats made against a French journalist expose them to the possibility of judicial proceedings.”
The group further urged French authorities to summon representatives of the Chinese embassy in Paris in order “to protest against this unacceptable harassment”.
“The French authorities must condemn the Chinese government’s use of such aggressive methods with a French journalist and their violation of his freedom of information,” RSF said.
China continues to cut off Tibet from the rest of the world even as international clamour over diplomatic access and visits by foreign media has grown. The United Nations, European Union, US, UK, and Canada have all called on China to address the grievances of the Tibetan people and allow investigative visits to the region.
In earlier instances, journalists attempting to enter Tibet have been chased, forced back, warned of visa cancellations, and also detained in some cases.
Since 2009, as many as 119 Tibetans living under China’s rule have set themselves on fire demanding freedom and the return of the exile Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai lama.
