No expulsion for Chinese journalists: Govt

The government attempted to clear the perception on its reported decision of expelling three Chinese journalists working with its national news agency Xinhua, which many saw as a 'needless aggravation'.

Official sources here said the journalists were not being "expelled", but their visa validity and period of stay in India had expired. They also dismissed the suggestion that this move had anything to do with India's quest for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group or the Chinese shooting down Indian proposal to include Masood Azhar in global terror list, asserting not to look the move beyond an administrative measure.

The visas of three journalists which include the heads of Xinhua's bureau in New Delhi and Mumbai, are expiring on July 31. Officials here said, they had been already granted three short extensions and before they could apply for any fourth extension, they were told to arrange replacements. Wu Qiang heads the Delhi bureau, Lu Tang manages the Mumbai headquarters and the third journalist, She Yonggang, is also a reporter based in Mumbai.

"The three journalists had overstayed their visa and subsequently they had received several visa extensions. So we asked them to go back as it is no longer possible to give them visa extensions," officials said. They hoped that Xinhua will soon send their replacement. Xinhua journalists, who refused to come on record, however, said that no explanation was given to them for the denial of visa renewal.

Lu Tang, who is heading Mumbai Bureau, is a graduate of Jawaharlal Nehru University and has also studied at the Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidhyanagar, Gujarat. She is a well-known expert on India-China relations. "These journalists had since then been on short extension. We were giving them these short extensions as they wanted to stay on till their successor was here. But, since their successors were not here even after months, we gave them a cut-off date," they said. Government sources further added that India was not 'expelling' the journalists, as Xinhua was not being asked to pack up. "Xinhua is welcome to post new correspondents in Delhi," they said.

But there are others who say that the government decision had become because of adverse security inputs regarding the activities of these journalists. Sources in the ministry of home affairs, which actually looks into the visa issues said these journalists had recently visited the Tibetan centre in Karnataka, a recipe for a law and order problem. "The three journalists travelled to Bengaluru recently and met exiled Tibetan activists without informing the government," the sources said.