Beijing [China], Mar 18 : China has announced that it was revoking press credentials of US journalists working with the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post in what Beijing said was "reciprocal countermeasures" in response to the "oppression" of Chinese media orgzations in the US.
"In response to the US slashing the staff size of Chinese media outlets in the US, which is expulsion in all but name, China demands that journalists of US citizenship working with the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post whose press credentials are due to expire before the end of 2020 notify the Department of Information of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs within four calendar days starting from today and hand back their press cards within 10 calendar days," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
"They will not be allowed to continue working as journalists in the People's Republic of China, including its Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions," it added.
The move comes after US government recently declared several Chinese media outlets - state news agency Xinhua, China Global Television Network (CGTN), China Radio International, China Daily and Hai Tian Development USA - as agencies "controlled" by Beijing.
Further, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said: "In response to the US designation of five Chinese media agencies as 'foreign missions', China demands, in the spirit of reciprocity, that the China-based branches of Voice of America, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and Time declare in written form information about their staff, finance, operation and real estate in China."
Beijing defended the measures as "entirely necessary" and "reciprocal countermeasures" that China is "compelled to take in response to the unreasonable oppression the Chinese media orgzations experience in the US".
The Chinese Foreign Ministry alleged that in recent years, the US government has placed "unwarranted restrictions" on Chinese media agencies and personnel in the US and "purposely made things difficult for their normal reporting assignments, and subjected them to growing discrimination and politically-motivated oppression."
( With inputs from ANI )