U.S. to limit Chinese state media employees after Beijing expels Wall Street Journal reporters
The China Project illustration by Derek Zheng
In February, China expelled three Wall Street Journal reporters, allegedly as retaliation against an offensive headline. Last week, the U.S. hit back. Reuters reported:
Effective March 13, Washington will be capping the number of U.S. based employees of Xinhua News Agency, China Global Television Network, China Radio International, China Daily Distribution Corp to a total of 100, from 160.
A U.S. State Department official told Reuters that the move was “not linked to any one particular incident,” but rather was a response to the general deterioration of the treatment of journalists in China.
The Foreign Correspondents Club of China recently released its report on conditions in China in 2019, which can be summarized in this tweet from the club: “Not one correspondent surveyed said reporting conditions in China improved — for the second consecutive year.”
What does this mean?
We can expect harsher conditions and further restrictions for foreign journalists in China, which will become yet another exacerbation of the existing tensions between Beijing and Washington.
