A spokeswoman for Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, criticized Beijing for expelling a New York Times reporter from China in response to Mr. Lai’s appearance by video at a Times DealBook summit in New York in December.
The reporter, Vivian Wang, who was based in Beijing, was expelled in February. She was not involved in the DealBook conference, an annual event that features prominent executives and politicians. Chinese officials had complained for months about Ms. Wang’s reporting, which often addressed topics Beijing considered sensitive.
At the same time, China has sought to isolate Taiwan, a self-governed island that Beijing considers its territory, and largely regards any engagement with Taiwan’s leaders as a violation of Chinese sovereignty.
In a statement posted online on Sunday, the Taiwan president’s spokeswoman, Kuo Ya-hui, said China’s efforts to pressure media organizations not to engage with Mr. Lai was a threat to press freedom and the safety of journalists.
“China’s use of baseless pretexts and brutal methods to threaten the media and interfere with press freedom not only fails to improve its international image, but also highlights that China is currently a source of instability and a troublemaker,” Ms. Kuo said.
The expulsion of Ms. Wang, who had been a China correspondent for the paper since 2020, is the latest example of a crackdown by Beijing on foreign correspondents whose reporting challenges Beijing’s official line. The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China, in its latest annual report on the environment for international journalists in China, released in 2025, said: “Authorities apparently sought to influence reporting by restricting visas and access for reporters and news organizations whose coverage they disagreed with, threatening or launching lawsuits, and complaining to media headquarters about content.”
