China sent a 43-page letter to more than 30 foreign news organizations in Beijing on Thursday, calling for more "objective" and "impartial" coverage of the Hong Kong protests that have been raging since June.
The letter, signed by Hua Chunying, Beijing's new head of the Foreign Ministry's information department, called on journalists to accept "due social responsibility" to help "protesters ignorant of the truth to get back to the right path," according to the South China Morning Post.
Pro-democracy demonstrators have taken to Hong Kong's streets for more than 10 weeks, in protests that have often turned into violent clashes with riot police, to push the government into heeding their demands.
In the letter from China, 41 pages of news clips were included to show support for the Hong Kong central government's position on various issues, including what Beijing said was evidence of "foreign interference" in the unrest.
"Regrettably, however, there is still some coverage based on selective facts or no facts at all," Hua said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Morning Post.
The document was also sent to the BBC — along with U.S. outlets that included NBC, Bloomberg, and The Wall Street Journal — and Japanese outlets NHK, the national broadcaster, and the Asahi newspaper.
Foreign media, according to the letter, play a key role in guiding "misled" public opinion in Hong Kong and in restoring order in the city.
"Hong Kong is at critical moment," the document said, the Morning Post reports. "The call for rule of law, order and tranquility represents the mainstream public opinion in Hong Kong.
"The pressing task is to stop violence, end chaos and restore order, where I believe the media have an important role to play."
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