Daily US Times: China has effectively expelled journalists from three major US newspapers, the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal in retaliation for restrictions on its news outlets in the US.
The foreign ministry of China ordered the reporters of these media outlets to return media passes within 10 days and also demanded information about their operations in China.
China said the restrictions of these three major newspaper journalists were in response to “unwarranted restrictions on Chinese media agencies” in the US.
The measure will be implemented in the semi-autonomous regions of Macau and Hong Kong, where there is greater press freedom than on the mainland.
Earlier this month, Trump administration imposed limits on the number of Chinese citizens who could work as journalists in the US.
On Tuesday, the foreign ministry of China issued a statement, which said “What the US has done is exclusively targeting Chinese media organizations, and hence driven by a Cold War mentality and ideological bias.”
Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State described the move as ‘unfortunate’ and urged Beijing to reconsider its decision.
At the beginning of March, US state department asked to reduce the staff of five media outlets, including China’s official news agency Xinhua.
The step was seen as retaliation for China’s expulsion of two US journalists for the Wall Street Journal over a coronavirus editorial in February.
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