//Xinhua cited Western media’s reports about China’s initial COVID response and the human rights violations in Xinjiang state as examples of Western media’s “smear campaign against China” that would not have been possible without the help from their Chinese staff.
“Chinese reporters in Western media have also cobbled together ‘evidence’ depicting China’s so-called human rights violations,” the Xinhua report claimed.
Experts are of the view that the Xinhua article reflects a worrying trend of finger-pointing at Chinese journalists associated with Western media outlets.
Kecheng Fang, assistant professor of media and communications at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told Deutsche Welle that other nationalistic media outlets have also published similar reports.
“Some of these local journalists are now worried about their personal safety as well as the safety of their family members in China,” he said.
“The Xinhua article criticized them for participating in China-bashing stories, but many of the journalists I have spoken to say they will continue to contribute to the China-related reporting in Western media,” Fang said, adding that they believe their work adds to a better understanding of China in foreign media. //
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