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CHENGDU, China (AFP) - A Chinese propaganda official accused some Western reporters Thursday of seeking to incite survivors of the massive Sichuan earthquake ahead of the first anniversary of the disaster.
"A very few journalists are not going to the disaster area to report, but are inciting the crowds, asking people to organise (against the government)," said Hou Xiongfei, vice head of Sichuan's provincial propaganda department.
"We do not welcome these kinds of people and... will handle them in accordance with the law," he told journalists. Hou did not provide specific examples.
His comments came after the Foreign Correspondents Club of China issued a statement saying Western journalists had been harassed, detained and beaten by local officials in the quake zone in the run-up to the May 12 anniversary.
On Wednesday, a team of AFP reporters were told to leave a village, where many schools had been destroyed, by local officials who refused to acknowledge the validity of their reporting credentials.
Hou insisted that China was happy to see journalists report on the first anniversary of the disaster and insisted that the quake zone was open to all media.
"We take a friendly and welcoming attitude to journalists covering the earthquake, but we are taking some measures to administer (the press) in accordance with the law," Hou said.
Nearly 87,000 people were killed or left missing in the 8.0-magnitude quake, which was the biggest to hit China in more than 30 years.
Local people have largely voiced praise for government efforts to overcome the disaster, but the collapse of schools, killing thousands of children, has triggered outrage among bereaved parents.
The distribution of relief supplies and funds has also been the subject of criticism.
Hou said over 1,700 foreign journalists from 32 countries and regions have reported on the tragedy since May last year.
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