Li Keqiang and David Cameron at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing
The UK has protested to China after a Bloomberg reporter was barred from a joint press event given by David Cameron, UK prime minister, and Chinese premier Li Keqiang in Beijing on Monday.
In an escalation of Chinese hostility towards the US media company, Rob Hutton, a UK-based reporter accompanying Mr Cameron on his visit to China, was banned at the last minute from attending the event.
“As soon as this issue became apparent on Sunday, we raised our concerns at senior levels and made clear it would be completely inappropriate to exclude journalists from the press statements,” said a spokesman for Mr Cameron.
“When we heard what had happened today we expressed our deep concern to senior Chinese officials about journalists being blocked.”
Bloomberg declined to comment.
This is Mr Cameron’s first trip to China since 2010 and comes after the UK was thrown into the diplomatic deep-freeze in May 2012 following a meeting between the UK prime minister and the Dalai Lama in London.
The trip is intended to mark a thaw in relations, but the latest row threatens to overshadow an otherwise productive trade mission.
The move to block Mr Hutton from the event was the latest example of Beijing punishing Bloomberg for stories published last year that revealed the wealth allegedly accumulated by relatives of Xi Jinping, the Chinese president.
Bloomberg has generally not been invited to official Chinese press conferences since.
Along with the New York Times, which published a similar story about the family of the then Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, Bloomberg has also had trouble securing visas for some of its journalists in China.
The websites of both news organisations have been blocked in mainland China since they published the stories.
More recently, Bloomberg was accused of axing a story that alleged financial ties between Wang Jianlin, China’s richest man, and the relatives of senior Communist party officials.
More recently, Bloomberg was accused of axing a story that alleged financial ties between Wang Jianlin, China’s richest man, and the relatives of senior Communist party officials.
Bloomberg has denied it spiked the story and Mr Wang’s company, Wanda, has previously declined to comment.
People familiar with the situation at Bloomberg told the Financial Times the story was quashed because of concerns that the group’s operations in China would be hurt by publication.
In a conference call with reporters and editors, Matt Winkler, Bloomberg’s editor-in-chief, said the organisation risked being kicked out of China if the story went ahead.
Bloomberg has not denied the comments.
People familiar with the situation at Bloomberg told the Financial Times the story was quashed because of concerns that the group’s operations in China would be hurt by publication.
In a conference call with reporters and editors, Matt Winkler, Bloomberg’s editor-in-chief, said the organisation risked being kicked out of China if the story went ahead.
Bloomberg has not denied the comments.
On Monday, a UK official said the British embassy had been told just hours before Mr Cameron landed in Beijing that Mr Hutton would not be allowed inside the Great Hall of the People, where the joint event was held.
The official added that the Chinese authorities had made clear it “would not be appropriate” for Mr Hutton to attend.
The rest of the UK political press corps was allowed into the hall, where Mr Li and Mr Cameron announced a range of new investment and trade partnerships.
The rest of the UK political press corps was allowed into the hall, where Mr Li and Mr Cameron announced a range of new investment and trade partnerships.
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