In a statement published on Wednesday evening, the All-China Journalists Association (ACJA), a group backed by the Communist party, said that "legitimate interviews are a journalist's right", adding that the authorities "should not simply and brutally obstruct the media journalists from performing their duties in a normal manner in order to control public opinion".
The unusually forthright comments came after videos emerged of two state media journalists being blocked from reporting from the scene of an explosion in the northern province of Hebei. The cause of the blast, which killed two people and injured 26, was suspected to be a gas leak in a restaurant.
This story is from the March 15, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the March 15, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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