The foreign ministry wants clarification from China on the intimidation and threats against Volkskrant journalist Marije Vlaskamp, that newspaper’s former China correspondent and now foreign editor. The ministry has contacted the Chinese embassy in the Netherlands about this, a spokesman confirms.
In Saturday’s Volkskrant, Vlaskamp details what happened to her. For example, a fake bomb threat was made in her name at the Chinese embassy in The Hague in mid-October. You were also asked to take a critical article offline. A Chinese dissident Vlaskamp wanted to write about was also threatened and intimidated.
Harassment campaign
Vlaskamp talks about a “complicated and sometimes bizarre intimidation campaign, in which I am taken against my will on a ride by a crazy Chinese man”. My supervisors at the paper, the Dutch police and I: We watch from the front row how the Chinese work when they want to silence people on issues that China’s one-party state doesn’t want attention for.’
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs defines “very worrying that a dissident and a journalist suffer such extensive intimidation”. This government is committed to the safety of journalists and human rights defenders around the world and strongly opposes all forms of unwanted foreign interference. That this intimidation takes place in the Netherlands is unacceptable.”
Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
