China allegedly withholds residence visas for NYT, Bloomberg reporters

Beijing – China has been reportedly withholding residence visas for the New York Times (NYT) and Bloomberg reporters over the agencies’ investigative stories on wealth accumulated by leaders’ families.

According to the Japan Times, the two organizations’ news-gathering operations in the country might shut down, in case the Chinese authorities do not start approving renewals for visas, which are due to expire by the end of the year.

According to the report, the Times and Bloomberg have nearly two dozen journalists in China whose visas are up for renewal by the end of the month, but Beijing has refused to act on them.

The Foreign Correspondents Club of China said that as the authorities had given no public explanation for their actions, it led to such impression that this comes in retaliation for reporting against the government.

Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden warned Chinese leaders that there would be repercussions for the country, if the journalists were expelled, especially in Congress.

Earlier, the two news organizations had their websites blocked in China in 2012 after each published detailed investigative reports exposing the enormous wealth amassed by the relatives of Chinese leaders.