The Chinese authorities informed French journalist Ursula Gauthier by telephone on Friday that she would have to leave China by December 31 unless she apologized for an article she wrote.

The Foreign Ministry in Beijing told Gauthier, who works for Le Nouvel Observateur news magazine, that her press visa would not be renewed - effectively an expulsion from the country - if she did not apologize for an article on China's reaction to the terrorist attacks on Paris in November.

"I will not deviate from my story," Gauthier told dpa.

In the article, she wrote that China's statement of solidarity with France was not without "ulterior motives," particularly Beijing wanting more support for its controversial policies against the Muslim Uighur minority in Xinjiang province.

The article also criticized China's fight against terrorism and "vilified and defamed" politics in the country, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said at a press conference in December.

Gauthier has been publicly criticized in the Chinese press and has caused a storm on social media.

Bob Dietz of the Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the threat not to extend Gauthier's visa, saying conditions were getting worse for foreign journalists working in China.

"The abuse aimed at Ursula Gauthier makes it clear the government of President Xi Jinping is trying to force the same restrictions it has used to stifle its domestic media on the foreign media," Dietz said.

"We call on Beijing to renew Gauthier's visa and to allow all journalists to work freely and safely in China."

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China (FCCC) condemned the attempts to intimidate Gauthier and Reporters without Borders described Beijing's behaviour as a defamation campaign.