The United States is “deeply concerned with the increasingly harsh surveillance, harassment, and intimidation of U.S. and other foreign journalists” covering recent floods in China’s Henan province, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Thursday.

China’s harsh rhetoric toward news it perceives as critical “has provoked negative public sentiment leading to tense, in-person confrontations and harassment” of journalists, Price said in a statement.

China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China said on Tuesday that journalists from several media outlets covering recent floods in China were harassed online and by local residents, with staff from the BBC and Los Angeles Times receiving death threats. read more

“We call on the PRC to act as a responsible nation hoping to welcome foreign media and the world for the upcoming Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Price said.

Reuters