NEW DELHI: Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece, The Global Times, has distanced itself from Indian journalist Rajeev Sharma arrested in an espionage case under the Official Secrets Act. Publication’s editor-in-chief Hu Xijin said the Indian media’s articles were enough to create a negative association against The Global Times.
“I do not know whether the Indian side is making up an unjust case because of the tensions between China and India. It has been common for Indians to either work for The Global Times in Beijing as copy editors or write for us from India as freelance writers. It is very inappropriate for the Indian side to publicly link The Global Times to the case,” Hu said. Sharma is believed to have written a column for the publication.
Sharma was arrested by the Delhi Police on September 14 for allegedly passing on sensitive information to Chinese agencies. On Monday, a Delhi court extended by seven days the custodial interrogation of Sharma. The police said Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pawan Singh Rajawat also extended the custody of two of his associates — a Chinese woman and a Nepalese man by seven days. The accused were produced before the court on expiry of their earlier custody and the agency sought their further remand.The police said the Chinese woman and her Nepalese associate paid him large amounts of money routed through shell firms.