Irish journalist Yvonne Murray, who had been reporting for RTÉ from Beijing, has been forced to flee China’s “hostile atmosphere” with her family amid concerns for the safety of her husband, veteran BBC correspondent John Sudworth. Speaking to The Irish Times from Taiwan on Wednesday, Murray said they felt they had no option but to flee their Beijing home. Their three children speak fluent Chinese and two of them were born in China, Murray said, so they had been reluctant to leave. “We could withstand it for a long time because there is so much to like about China. “This kind of rhetoric is becoming a more common approach… a more pugilistic response to criticisms of China.”

Source: The Irish Times March 31, 2021 12:10 UTC