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“Correct mistakes or else...”: Media war escalates between China and the US
Calling it an “unreasonable oppression” of its journalists in the US, Beijing said the US’s decision was driven by “ideological prejudices”, and it was “compelled” to take counter measures.
China on Wednesday said it could take more action against US media if Washington did not “correct its mistakes”, a day after announcing the expulsion of American journalists from three newspapers in retaliation of Chinese state media being designated as “foreign missions” in the US.
Calling it an “unreasonable oppression” of its journalists in the US, Beijing said the US’s decision was driven by “ideological prejudices”, and it was “compelled” to take counter measures.
According to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC), at least 13 journalists from The New York Times (NYT), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and The Washington Post (WP) could be affected by the decision.
It could be higher depending on how broadly the group is defined, the FCCC said in a statement.
The Chinese foreign ministry said it was within its purview to even not allow the journalists to be expelled to not work from Hong Kong or Macau as the decision was within the purview of “diplomatic affairs”.
Foreign ministry spokesperson, Geng Shuang blamed the decision to expel the American journalists on the US government designating several Chinese state media outlets operating in the US as foreign missions.
Late on Tuesday, China announced said US journalists working for the NYT, WP, and WSJ, whose credentials were up for renewal in 2020, will have 10 days to turn in their press cards.
The decision not only bans them from reporting but also effectively expels them from China as press credentials here are tied to the residence visas for foreign journalists.
“We urge the US to take off its ideological prejudice, abandon cold war mentality,” Geng said at the regular press conference on Wednesday.
“China is not one to start trouble, but it will not blink if trouble comes. We urge the US side to immediately stop suppressing Chinese media, otherwise the US side will lose even more.”
“The US has said that all options are on the table. Today, I can also tell the US that all options are on the table for China,” Geng added.
When asked whether the decision not to allow the journalists to work in Hong Kong under the “one country, two systems” agreement, Geng said
Geng said blocking the journalists from working in Hong Kong was within Beijing’s diplomatic purview.
Earlier this month, the US announced that five state-controlled Chinese media outlets would be restricted to 100 visas, the de facto expelling of about 60 journalists, the Associated Press said in a reported.
It cited increasingly harsh surveillance, harassment and intimidation of American and other foreign journalists working in China.
The Chinese outlets employ about 160 Chinese citizens in the U.S. and include the official Xinhua News Agency and China Global Television Network, the overseas arm of state broadcaster CCTV, the AP report said.
“There are no winners in the use of journalists as diplomatic pawns by the world’s two preeminent economic powers,” the AP report, quoting the FCCC statement, said.
