Nepal paper defiant after China slams virus criticism

A Nepalese newspaper on Thursday slammed Beijing for trying to muzzle free speech after it was accused of "deliberate" and "malicious" smearing by the Chinese embassy in the Himalayan nation.

The embassy had sharply criticised the Kathmandu Post on Tuesday for publishing a syndicated column which argued that China's authoritarian system of government had worsened the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

The reaction from the embassy came as China ordered three Wall Street Journal reporters to leave the country over an op-ed headline that Beijing had deemed racist, one of the country's harshest moves against foreign media in years.

"The Chinese embassy did not just express its discontent with the article published; it went so far as to disparage the Post's Editor-in-Chief and employ threatening language," the Kathmandu Post said in an editorial.

"The undiplomatic -- and frankly menacing -- manner in which the Chinese embassy made its objections known is condemnable," it added.

"The actions of the embassy... can be perceived as a direct threat to the Nepali people's right to a free press, freedom of opinion and freedom of expression."
"China can... express its reservations," the paper said. "What it cannot do, especially in a democracy, is demand that articles be taken down and then issue veiled threats against the editor of a foreign newspaper."