China criticizes French reporter's terrorism "double standards"

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday criticized the "double standards" of a French journalist after speculation that China is refusing to renew her press card after controversial reporting.

Ursula Gauthier, working for French magazine Le Nouvel Observateur, published an article on Nov. 18 blaming government policy in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region for terrorist attacks in China.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a regular press briefing that the article had strongly offended the Chinese people.

She noted that it came days after the Paris attacks, which were covered very differently by the French media.

"We fail to understand why terrorism is accepted as such in other countries, but turns into 'ethnic' or 'religious' problems when it occurs in China," she said. "We cannot understand why China's anti-terrorism efforts are described as repression of ethnic minorities."

"This ridiculous logic is typical of the West's double standards and political bias," Hua added. Endi