China ranks 177th out of 180 countries in press freedom index... US PD faces trouble after questioning human rights issues

ABC News PD Questions Biden Just Before US-China Summit
Chinese Official Grabs Bag and Pushes Toward Door... White House Staff Intervene

On the 14th (local time), U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a face-to-face summit in Bali, Indonesia, where the Group of Twenty (G20) leaders' meeting was taking place. Photo by Reuters

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] It was revealed belatedly that an American journalist covering the US-China summit was dragged out by the Chinese side after raising a question about human rights.

On the 14th (local time), US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a face-to-face summit in Bali, Indonesia, where the G20 summit was taking place. This was the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders in 3 years and 5 months since the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, in June 2019, when then-US President Donald Trump met with President Xi.

The incident occurred before the closed-door meeting began that day. According to NBC News, after the opening remarks by both leaders, Molly Nagle, an ABC News producer representing the US press corps covering the summit, asked President Biden whether there were plans to address human rights issues during the meeting. The question was whether concerns about human rights violations in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong would be raised with the Chinese side.

Suddenly, a member of President Xi's entourage used physical force against Nagle. This official, wearing a mask with the Chinese flag, grabbed Nagle's bag and pushed her toward the door, causing her to lose her balance and stagger. After two White House staff members warned not to touch Nagle, the incident was resolved. This was revealed through a field report shared by Nagle with the White House press corps.

There have been several previous cases where foreign journalists covering China were forcibly restrained. During the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Sjoerd den Daas, a China correspondent for the Dutch public broadcaster NOS, who was reporting live outside the Beijing National Stadium during the opening ceremony, was dragged away by local security personnel. The footage showing the journalist being taken away with both arms held by officers wearing red armbands sparked controversy over China's press suppression.

Additionally, after the Olympic skiing events, a foreign journalist was prevented by Chinese Olympic officials from interviewing a Hong Kong skier in the International Olympic Committee (IOC)-managed mixed zone.

China's media environment is known to have deteriorated drastically since President Xi took office. Last year, China ranked 177th out of 180 countries in the press freedom index, dropping 10 places from 167th at the time of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.