Chinese journalists cry discrimination after they were banned from the Canadian Prime Minister's Arctic trip.

Official news agency Xinhua and Communist Party newspaper People's Daily, respectively were prohibited from participating in Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Arctic trip, allegedly due to past incidents between China and Canada.

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The banning of Chinese reporters is coming off a time when the two countries are having a rift in their relationship after the Canadian government accused hackers from China of infiltrating a Canadian research and development organization's computer systems.

After the hacking incident, Chinese authorities arrested a pair of Canadians who were allegedly stealing the country's state secrets pertaining to military and national defense.

Harper spokesman Jason Macdonald confirmed that "some media outlets" are not welcome to go with the Prime Minister on the trip.

During last year's trip to the Arctic, Harper spokeswoman Julie Vaux was pushed by People's Daily reporter Li Xuejiang because she did not let him shoot questions to Harper.

Li admitted pushing Vaux but accused the prime minister's office of showing discrimination against Chinese media by not allowing them to ask questions. He also pointed out their being restrained by police during the coverage.

The ban has led Chinese reporters to file a complaint with the Ottawa press gallery.

Former Canadian ambassador to China David Mulroney said some journalists from China can be quite aggressive, citing his past personal experience with them.

Mulroney recalled figuring in a stamped when Chinese media rushed into a meeting room to get a photo of then-president Jiang Zemin.

TagsArctic trip, Chinese journalists, canadian PM