Kathmandu, February 19
Over one dozen prominent editors affiliated with various media houses in Kathmandu on Tuesday have protested a statement issued by the Chinese Embassy over an op-ed published by The Kathmandu Post.
After TKP published the op-ed titled ‘China’s secrecy has made coronavirus crisis much worse’ by Ivo Daalder, previously published by The Korean Herald, with an image that portrayed Mao Zedong masked, the embassy had commented that the article “deliberately smeared the efforts of the Chinese government and people fighting against the new coronavirus pneumonia and even viciously attacked the political system of China.”
The statement had further read, “It is regrettable that Anup Kaphle, Chief Editor of The Kathmandu Post has always been biased on China-related issues. This time he went as far as disregarding the facts and becoming a parrot of some anti-China forces and, therefore, his ulterior purpose is destined to failure. The Chinese Embassy in Nepal has made solemn representations to the newspaper and himself and reserves the right of further action.”
In their statements, the editors today said, “We respect any individual or organisation’s right to express their dissent or refute contents of the press. But, we disagree with the act of accusing the editor, by mentioning his name, and threatening him for publishing an opinion or news.”
The signatories include Akhilesh Upadhyaya, Amit Dhakal, Arun Baral, Kiran Nepal, Krishna Jwala Devkota, Guna Raj Luitel, Narayan Wagle, Purna Basnet, Prakash Rimal, Prateek Pradhan, Prashant Aryal, Basant Basnet, Rajendra Dahal, Shiva Gaunle, Sudheer Sharma, Subhash Ghimire, and Hari Bahadur Thapa.
