WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States on Monday decried China's expulsion of foreign journalists from Tibet saying it was disturbing and disappointing amid unrest there.
"There are reports out there that the Chinese have also decided to order out of Tibet any remaining foreign journalists, which is also disturbing, and disappointing as well, since that limits the information that any of us can reasonably have about the situation there," said State Department spokesman Tom Casey.
At least 10 reporters from Hong Kong were expelled Monday from Tibet on the heels of China's worst crackdown in Tibet in years.
China faced mounting global pressure over Tibet amid exiles' claims that hundreds of people may have died in a crackdown on protesters, even though Beijing denied using deadly force.
Meanwhile foreign journalists in China demanded that the government allow access to report on the events in Tibet where deadly anti-China protests have erupted over Beijing's rule of the region.
"The Foreign Correspondents Club of China urges the Chinese government to immediately allow correspondents into Tibetan areas for news coverage," the club said in a statement.
Two dozen reporters have been turned away from or forced to leave Tibetan areas since social unrest erupted last week, including from Lhasa, Tibet's regional capital, and Xiahe in Gansu province, it said in Beijing.
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