French journalist forced to leave China

PARIS/BEIJING: China will force a French journalist who criticised its treatment of its Muslim Uighur minority to leave the country, her employer, the weekly l´Obs news magazine, said on Friday.

The press visa of Ursula Gauthier, the magazine´s Beijing correspondent, expires on Dec 31 and Beijing has refused to grant an extension, saying a report she wrote supports acts of violence by Uighurs that China considers terrorist activity.

The story, dated Nov 18, suggested that China was using last month´s Paris attacks to justify crackdowns on Uighur people in northwest China´s Xinjiang region.

Hundreds have been killed in recent years in the region, beset by ethnic tensions which Uighur groups blame on repressive government policies while China denies any human rights abuses and says it faces a campaign from Islamist radicals and separatists.