Chinese Foreign Ministry new spokesman Zhao Lijian gestures as he speaks during a daily briefing at ... [+]
Topline: Beijing has revoked the credentials of major U.S. media outlets operating in China, a dramatic escalation against press freedom as the two countries publicly clash over statements about the origin of the coronavirus.
- China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that journalists working in China for the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal need to “hand back their press cards within ten calendar days” because “they will not be allowed to continue working as journalists” in the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong.
- Voice of America and Time will have to hand over written information about their staff, finances and real estate in China, but will not be expelled entirely.
- Hong Kong typically enjoys more press freedom than mainland China, and the removal of American journalists from the region is already raising questions about the area’s sovereignty.
- The ministry said the unprecedented actions are in response to the U.S. placing restrictions on the number of staff Chinese state-run media outlets are allowed to have in the U.S., saying that media outlets under the authoritarian regime are essentially an arm of the Chinese government.
- The U.S. imposed those restrictions after Beijing revoked press credentials for three Wall Street Journal reporters last month in response to an op-ed that called China “the real sick man of Asia,” which sparked outrage inside the country as officials called the piece “racially discriminatory.”
Chief critics: The Committee to Protect Journalists, a non-profit promoting press freedom worldwide, spoke out against the move. “The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns this senseless but entirely predictable retaliation by the Chinese government, which threatens to sharply curtail the reporting operations of major U.S. publications in China,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Beijing and Washington should negotiate to solve their differences and stop taking measures that cripple news reporting during a global pandemic, when the public’s need for accurate information is greater than ever.”
New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet said it was a “grave mistake” for China to “move backwards and cut itself off from several of the world’s top news organizations.”
“We strongly condemn the decision of the Chinese authorities to expel American journalists, an action that is especially irresponsible at a time when the world needs the free and open flow of credible information about the coronavirus pandemic,” he said in a statement.
Key background: In addition to the media war between the U.S. and China, tensions stemming from the coronavirus have only escalated, with Trump and other Republicans referring to the disease as a “Chinese virus” in recent weeks while Beijing promotes a conspiracy theory about the U.S. army bringing the virus to Wuhan, China.
