A few months after Radio-Canada was forced to close its Moscow office, its international coverage took another blow when visa-obtaining problems forced it to close its Beijing, China office.
China, which has been covered by Radio-Canada and CBC for almost 40 years, will no longer have a correspondent as the recently appointed Philippe Leblanc has still not been able to settle there since his visa application in October 2020.
Despite meetings with the consul in Montreal and representations to the Chinese ambassador to Canada, no breakthrough has been made since then, apart from allowing Radio-Canada during last winter’s Olympic Games “in a very strict framework.
“It is with reluctance that we have finally made the decision to close our office,” said Luce Julien, Radio-Canada’s director general for information, and Ginette Viens, senior director, programming, news, news and deployment of Radio Canada on Wednesday.
“Unfortunately, Radio-Canada is not the only company facing significant difficulties in its journalistic mission in China. Relations between foreign media and the Chinese government have historically been complex. They’ve become particularly tense in recent years,” they added.
This region of the world is therefore now covered from Taiwan, where Philippe Leblanc will be stationed for the next two years.
Recall that last May the Russian authorities decided to close Radio-Canada’s office in Russia for retaliating against Canada and its position of supporting Ukraine in the context of the Russian invasion. However, correspondent Tamara Alteresco continues to cover the news from the countries bordering Russia.