Panel Discussion: China and the foreign press

On Thursday 30 April, Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow and a former Beijing bureau chief for both The Australian and The Financial Times, hosted a live-streamed event with Josh Chin, deputy China bureau chief (in exile) of the Wall Street Journal, Anna Fifield, Beijing bureau chief for The Washington Post, and Jane Perlez, Beijing bureau chief for The New York Times. China has expelled a record number of foreign journalists in recent months, mostly Americans, but also a number of Australians. Although the expulsions have been part of a tit-for-tat battle between Washington and Beijing over the status of journalists in both countries, they also reflect a tougher attitude to foreign criticism by Beijing, and a more uncompromising foreign policy generally.