Ursula Gauthier

Ursula Gauthier is a French journalist and sinologist. Gauthier was a reporter in China for L'Obs. In December 2015, her visa was not renewed and she was forced to leave the country after she published an article about Uyghurs in Xinjiang which Chinese government officials disapproved of.[1][2][3] A Chinese government Foreign Ministry spokesman suggested Gauthier's article "openly supports terrorist activity, the killing of innocents and has outraged the Chinese public."[4]

Ursula Gauthier
Born
Ursula Gauthier
NationalityFrench
OccupationJournalist
EmployerL'Obs
Known forGetting expelled from China

Personal

Ursula Gauthier is a long time journalist that was working as a foreign correspondent for the French news organization L'Obs in China before she was expelled from the country in December 2015 for an article she wrote about the treatment of Uighurs in China.[1] She was writing on Chinese police killing several Uighur people in Xinjiang which she claimed included women and children, all of whom they said were linked to an attack on a coal mine that happened in September.[5][4] The controversy arose when Gauthier claimed that "abuse, injustice, expropriation" of Uighurs "probably" triggered retribution in the form of the mass slaughter at the coal mine. Gauthier claimed that many experts doubt that ETIM, the jihadist Uighur East Turkestan Islamic Movement accused by the Chinese government to be the organizer of all violent attacks in Xinjiang, poses any real threat inside China and that some experts deny ETIM's existence. She claimed that ETIM is not classified anymore as terrorist by the USA.[5][4]

Career

Gauthier had spent six years reporting for L'Obs from Beijing before she was forced to leave.[6]

Expulsion from China

Gauthier wrote an article about the Chinese leaders' reaction to the November 2015 Paris attacks that was released on November 18, 2015 titled "After the attacks, the solidarity of China is not without ulterior motives."[5][7]

She was accused of supporting terrorism by Chinese officials and Chinese state-owned media, such as the Global Times, after her article was seen as being critical of the ruling class and their handling of Xinjiang Muslims. In particular, the Global Times took issue [8] with Gauthier's statement in her article that "the Baicheng attack [in China] had nothing in common with the 13th November attacks [in Paris]" (l'attaque de Baicheng ne ressemble en rien aux attentats du 13 novembre), arguing that this statement suggested a view that the Chinese civilians perished in the Baicheng attack [9] somehow deserve their fate.

Gauthier was also accused by Chinese netizens on Zhihu of being offensive. Specifically, these netizens believe that Gauthier's way of expressing her criticism of the Chinese government, one that centers on questioning the sincerity of Chinese leaders' sympathy with victims in Paris, is at the very least "rude and disrespectful." [10]

After these accusations, the press credentials of Gauthier were effectively revoked, and as a result of this so was her visa, and she was given the choice to either leave China before January 1, 2016, or apologize to the people of China. She ended up leaving China before the start of the new year.[11]

Impact

Gauthier is the first foreign journalist since Melissa Chan of Al Jazeera in 2012 to be expelled from China.[12] According to Gauthier, her being expelled from China was a scare tactic by the Chinese government to dissuade foreign journalists from criticizing Chinese policies, especially those involving Xinjiang, from within China.[13] China's decision to expel Ursula Gauthier comes as little surprise to some considering the country's ranking[14] on the Press Freedom Index.

Reactions

News organizations from all over the world have reported Gauthier's expulsion from China from the New York Times[15] to Al Jazeera[16] in Qatar. French journalists and press executives published a collective open letter condemning her expulsion.[17] Most reactions from journalists and news organizations alike were not in favor of the Chinese government's decision to expel Ursula Gauthier. Although the Global Times, a newspaper affiliated with the Chinese government, applauded the decision, and published an article citing a survey they conducted that showed 95% of the people surveyed in China supported the government's decision.[18] The Committee to Protect Journalists released the results from the Foreign Correspondents Club of China's annual survey results. The survey assessed the amount of trouble (such as how easy it is to gain access to certain areas, or how quickly a journalist receives her or his Chinese visa) that foreign journalist face while trying to report on stories going on in China.[19] The survey concluded that the treatment of Ursula Gauthier by the Chinese government, and the Chinese press, which resulted in death threats and personal attacks, were comparable to abuse.[20]

See also

Bibliography
  • Vent et poussière (Paris: Editions Denoël, 1995, 368 pages).
  • Le Volcan chinois : dans les entrailles du Grand Dragon (Paris: Editions Denoël, 1998, 304 pages).

References
  1. Phillips, Tom (December 26, 2015). "French journalist accuses China of intimidating foreign press". The Guardian. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
  2. Page, Jeremy (December 27, 2015). "China Effectively Expels French Journalist Over Critical Article: Ursula Gauthier says she will not apologize for story about mostly Muslim region of Xinjiang". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
  3. Phillips, Tom (December 31, 2015). "Ursula Gauthier: foreign media must fight China censorship, says expelled journalist". The Guardian. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
  4. Wee, Sui-Lee (December 31, 2015). "French journalist forced to leave China after article on Xinjiang". Reuters. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
  5. Gauthier, Ursula (November 18, 2015). "After the attacks, the solidarity of China is not without ulterior motives". L'Obs. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  6. Wang, Kevin (December 28, 2015). "French journalist Ursula Gauthier kicked out of China for slamming Beijing's Uyghur policy". CNN. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  7. Rudolph, Josh (December 1, 2015). "State Media Attacks French journo for Xinjiang Report". chinadigitaltimes. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  8. "Press freedom no excuse for advocating terrorism". Global Times. Global Times. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  9. Mitchell, Tom. "China steps up hunt for perpetrators of deadly Xinjiang attack". Financial Times. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  10. "如何看待法国《新观察者》记者郭玉的行径，对恐怖分子的张目". ZhiHu. ZhiHu. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  11. Kaiman, Jonathan (December 26, 2015). "China will boot French journalist for article criticizing ruling party". LA Times. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  12. Rauhala, Emily (December 26, 2015). "China expels French journalists for terrorism coverage". Washington Post. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  13. Tang, Didi (December 26, 2015). "China expels French reporter who questioned terrorism". Associated Press. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  14. Index (2015). "World Press Freedom Rankings 2015". Reporters Without Borders Index. Archived from the original on 2015-02-12. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  15. Forsythe, Michael (December 22, 2015). "Journalist Says China May Expel Her for Article on Uighurs". New York Times. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  16. Human Rights (December 26, 2015). "China to expel French journalist over Uighur report". Al Jazeera. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  17. Le Monde.fr staff (December 30, 2015). "The expulsion from China of our colleague Ursula Gauthier is unjustifiable". Le Monde.fr. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  18. Tiantian, Bai (December 28, 2015). "Survey shows 95% support French reporter's expulsion". Global Times. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  19. cpj staff (April 4, 2016). "Foreign press in China face fewer visa delays but obstacles remain, FCCC finds". Committee to Protect Journalist. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  20. FCCC (April 4, 2016). "Foreign Correspondents' Club of China's annual survey" (PDF). FCCC. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
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