Visa restrictions have been placed on five of the media outlets, restricting the number of employees permitted into the U.S.
CHINA TAKES AIM AT 4 US MEDIA COMPANIES, DEMANDING STAFF, BUSINESS INFO
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters at a news convention on Tuesday that 60 workers were forced to leave the country due to staff restrictions.
State media outlets, such as the Xinhua News Agency and CCTV, the foreign branch of the state channel, imposed visa restrictions in February, which allowed only one hundred visas, with 160.
“Relevant U.S. movements have seriously disrupted the information activities of Chinese journalists, seriously shattered the reputation of the Chinese media, and affected personal exchanges between the two sides,” Wenbin said Tuesday.
“As it boasts of press freedom, the United States now voluntarily makes the Chinese media do its job,” Wenbin added.
The U.S. State Department expressed fears about the legitimacy of the new outlets, which were “largely owned or well controlled” through the Chinese government.
Additional Chinese visas were imitated in May, allowing 90-day stays, unless an extension is granted.
Webin told reporters on Friday that no extensions had been granted, their visas expiring on Thursday.
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“Such two-faced behavior is hypocrisy in so-called press freedom, no less than double judgment and hegemonic intimidation,” Webin said.
China responded to previous initial designations this year by forcing dozens of Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Washington Post editors to leave China.
Webin did not say what the implications would be for American newspapers in China or Hong Kong, noting that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (HKSAR) is “the territory of China”.
“If the United States is determined to go the wrong way and redouble its efforts, China is required to make mandatory and valid reactions to firmly safeguard its valid rights and interests,” the Chinese spokesman said Tuesday.
Relations between the United States and China have become increasingly strained in recent months, starting with the coronavirus pandemic.
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The Trump administration has condemned China’s lack of transparency surrounding COVID-19, along with the recent security laws that breached Hong Kong’s regional autonomy. China’s latest actions in Hong Kong have brought condemnation from not only the U.S. but the U.K. and Taiwan
“The Central Government has the diplomatic authority to make reactions in response to U.S. oppression of Chinese media organizations in the U.S.,” Webin told reporters.
The State Department did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News.