Nepal editors condemn China's embassy; say they're fully committed to practising 'freedom of press'

Nepal's senior journalists on Wednesday condemned the Chinese embassy's recent remarks critical of a leading daily over its coverage of the coronavirus outbreak, saying the statement has stepped over diplomatic decorum.

A group of 16 senior editors from major dailies and online outlets issued a joint statement, condemning in strong words Chinese Ambassador Hou Yanqi's recent statement.

"Our attention has been drawn towards the statement issued by the Embassy of China on Tuesday regarding a content published on The Kathmandu Post daily," said the joint statement.

"While we respect a person or an institution's right to express dissent over materials published in the press, we strongly disagree with actions issuing threat against a specific individual for expressing an opinion or publishing a report.

"We condemn such act and would like to remind that the said statement has stepped over diplomatic decorum," reads the joint statement.

The editors have further stated that they are fully committed towards practising and protecting "freedom of press" which has been guaranteed by the Constitution of Nepal.

On Tuesday, the Post republished an article 'China's secrecy has made coronavirus crisis much worse' by Ivo Daalder, a former US ambassador to NATO, which was originally published in The Korea Herald, a member of Asia News Network. The accompanying illustration showed Mao Zedong wearing a mask.

In its statement, the Chinese embassy not only took exception to the article and the accompanying illustration published but also identified the Post's Editor-in-Chief Anup Kaphle, employed disparaging language and went so far as to make a veiled threat of "further action", the Post reported.

Editors including Prakash Rimal of The Himalayan Times, Akhilesh Upadhyaya from The Kathmandu Post, Hari Bahadur Thapa of Annapurna Post and Ameet Dhakal of Setopati online news portal expressed their concern over the statement issued by the Chinese embassy for pointing out an individual and threatening to take action.