04/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - EU calls on China to renew visa for French journalist, Ursula Gauthier. On Thursday 31 December, the spokesperson for the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy called on China to review its decision not to renew the visa of European journalist Ursula Gauthier, the correspondent of the French L'Obs newspaper. According to the spokesperson, the de facto expulsion of Gauthier “calls into question China's commitment to freedom of the press and goes against commitments made by China during its last Universal Periodic Review”. In a press release, the spokesperson pointed out that the EU supports the principles of freedom of expression and independence of the media “as underpinning every free society”. Gauthier has been a correspondent in China for six years but left the country on 31 December after the country refused to grant her a press card, which is needed for renewing her visa, due to an article written about the minority Uyghur population in China. (CG)