China expels American journalist

Beijing : China has refused to renew the visa for an American journalist whose reporting on sensitive issues like human rights violation in Xinjiang seems to have ticked off the Chinese government.

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China said on Wednesday that Buzzfeed News China bureau chief Megha Rajagoplan was denied a long-term visa by the Chinese authorities and as a result is being forced to take up a new assignment.

"It is bittersweet to leave Beijing after spending six wonderful and eye-opening years as a journalist there... Can't express how grateful I am to have lived in China through a period of incredible economic dynamism and social change. Living there forced me to learn not only a new language and culture, but an entirely new way of seeing the world. It's been endlessly challenging and rewarding, Rajagoplan tweeted.

The journalist association said the Chinese Foreign Ministry declined to give a clear and transparent reason.

Rajagoplan has extensively reported about the human rights violations in China's Xingjiang province, home to Uyghur Muslims.

The UN says China has detained a large number of Uyghur Muslims at indoctrination camps in the restive region.

Earlier too, foreign correspondents have been denied visa for their critical reporting in China.

In 2016, French reporter Ursula Gauthier was expelled over her reporting in Xinjiang.