After China’s diktat to journalists, India says it has free media

A day after Beijing advised journalists in India to adhere to the One-China policy while reporting on Taiwan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in New Delhi said that the country had a free media.

“India has a free media that reports on issues that it sees fit,” Anurag Srivastava, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), told journalists in New Delhi on Thursday. He was replying to a query on the reaction of the government on the diktat the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in New Delhi had issued to the media in India on Wednesday.

The communist country’s diplomatic mission in New Delhi sent out a letter to journalists, stating that India’s media should stick to its government’s “One-China” principle and to refrain from referring to Taiwan as a country or a nation.

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China, which has all its media outlets controlled by its communist party, issued the advisory to the journalists in India ahead of the National Day of Taiwan on October 10.

“There is only one China in the world. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. (The) One-China policy is int'l (international) universal consensus & (and) long-standing position of Indian govt (government), which China appreciates,” Ji Rong, the spokesperson and press counsellor of the PRC’s embassy in New Delhi, posted on Twitter on Wednesday. “It's wishful thinking to seek any Taiwan independence.”

The “One-China” policy recognises only the People's Republic of China, which came into existence in 1949 after the communists defeated the nationalists in the civil war of China. It does not recognise the existence of Taiwan (or the Republic of China), where the nationalists retreated to and based the seat of their government after losing to the communists.

India, like most of the other nations, has been adhering to the One-China policy since 1949, recognising only the People's Republic of China.

“India is the largest democracy on (the) earth with a vibrant press & (and) freedom-loving people. But it looks like communist China is hoping to march into the subcontinent by imposing censorship. Taiwan’s Indian friends will have one reply: GET LOST!” Joseph Wu, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister, posted on Twitter, reacting to the diktat issued by the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi to the media in India.