Taiwan Condemns China’s Expulsion of 1 NYT Reporter Over Lai Summit Video
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 1
Taiwan Condemns China’s Expulsion of 1 NYT Reporter Over Lai Summit Video
12 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 1
Kuo Ya-hui, President Lai Ching-te’s spokeswoman, said Beijing used a “baseless pretext” to expel New York Times correspondent Vivian Wang after Lai appeared by video at a December DealBook summit.
Wang, a Beijing-based correspondent since 2020, was expelled in February despite having no role in the event; Chinese officials had complained for months about her reporting on censorship, Covid policy and China’s expanding security state.
Taiwan said China’s pressure on media organizations not to engage with Lai threatens press freedom and journalist safety, framing the case as part of Beijing’s broader effort to isolate the self-governed island.
That campaign has extended beyond media access: Lai canceled an April trip to Eswatini after 3 countries withdrew overflight permits under apparent Chinese pressure, though he completed the visit in May.
The expulsion also fits a wider pattern of Beijing tightening pressure on foreign correspondents, with the dispute spilling into a U.S.-China visa tit-for-tat after Washington revoked a Xinhua journalist’s visa.
As Taiwan decries Beijing's authoritarianism, do its own actions in Eswatini undermine its democratic credibility on the world stage?
With China exporting digital authoritarianism, can the new Indo-Pacific security network effectively counter its technological and ideological expansion?