A Polish journalist regarded as an authoritative and experienced writer on Chinese affairs has been refused an entry visa to China.
Konrad Godlewski, a freelance commissioned by Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland's largest daily newspaper, was denied entry to the country to cover the China-Europe forum in Chengdu.
He was told he had been blacklisted by Chinese authorities in Beijing. No reason was given. "This is a tragedy for me. My dream was to be a correspondent in China. Now I feel like a fisherman whose boat has been stolen."
He believes his blacklisting may have been sparked by his acting as a translator for an interview in May between Wang Lixiong, a prominent Chinese writer and critic of China's Tibetan policy, and the Dalai Lama.
The rejection of Godlewski's visa application comes three months after another Polish journalist, Maria Kruczkowska, was denied a Chinese visa. She reported on China for 11 years, and had previously visited the country several times without incident.
But she was blacklisted for writing a critical article about China and the 2008 Olympic Games.
Piotr Stasinski, an International Press Institute board member and Gazeta Wyborcza's deputy editor-in-chief, said: "It's deeply surprising that the Chinese authorities - though they seemingly wish to broaden good relationships with the outside world, and with the European Union in particular... deny visas to journalists from Poland, an EU member."
IPI's press freedom manager Anthony Mills said: "We expect China to abide by universal press freedom values. This includes allowing foreign journalists to cover developments inside China, just as Chinese journalists should be allowed to cover events elsewhere in the world."
