BEIJING: China's foreign minister on Monday dismissed suggestions of heightened domestic tension following calls for anti-government protests inspired by the "Jasmine" uprisings in the Arab world.
"I haven't noticed any signs of tension (in China)," Yang Jiechi told reporters during a press briefing at China's annual parliamentary session.
Chinese authorities have been on edge following political uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East, detaining activists and placing restrictions on foreign journalists attempting to cover proposed public rallies in China.
Those behind the anonymous online calls in China for "Jasmine" rallies each Sunday have tried to bring attention to public dissatisfaction with widening income disparity, corruption and misrule.
But Yang, touting China's economic success, said its people were busy "focusing their attention on pursuing domestic development".
"This is what I have seen, and I don't want to see anyone making something out of thin air," Yang said.
The foreign minister's comments, however, contrasted sharply with remarks by Premier Wen Jiabao, who on Saturday noted "great resentment" in China over the hot-button issues.
No obvious protests have been reported but designated sites in Beijing and Shanghai have been blanketed by police the past two weekends, and foreign journalists have been obstructed, detained, or roughed up. A Bloomberg News reporter was repeatedly punched and kicked, by what appeared to be plainclothes security personnel on February 27 at a designated location in a busy Beijing shopping street. He required medical treatment. Yang denied police beat anyone.
"There is no such issue of Chinese police officers beating foreign journalists," he said.
A Beijing city government official said at a news conference Sunday that reporters must now obtain government permission to report in the city's "commercial districts". No approvals have yet been granted.
In Shanghai, foreign journalists have been told they cannot report at all near the city's "Jasmine" site.
Police stepped up pressure on journalists over the weekend, detaining at least 15 reporters from France, Germany, Spain and Japan in Shanghai on Sunday for about three hours near the designated protest site.
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China said Monday that at least 14 journalists had been phoned or visited by police at their homes, and several were being tailed or had their residences monitored by plainclothes security.
Many visits were unannounced and sometimes late at night with police checking documents.
An AFP journalist was visited on Saturday at his home by police who asked to see his residence papers.
Comments
Comments are closed.