U.S. restricts visas for Chinese journalists, dimming press freedom
On May 8, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announcedย new restrictions on visas for Chinese journalists working for non-American outlets, the latest round in a tit-for-tat media spat between the U.S. and China. The New York Times saysย that these journalists will be โlimited to 90-day work visas โ a significant reduction from the open-ended, single-entry stays that the agency previously granted to most journalists with Chinese passports and a valid entry visa.โ
Unlike previous Trump administration moves, this policy is not targetedย at Chinese state media. It instead applies a broad brush to journalists on the basis of their P.R.C. passport, with no regard to what kind of foreign media they work at, whether British media like the BBC, or Chinese commercial media like Caixin, Yicai, and Sina, or others.
Unsurprisingly, Beijing has threatened โcountermeasuresโย via its foreign ministry press conferenceย today. We should expect more journalist expulsions or similar measures from China soon.
Eight Chinese journalists in America reactedย to the news in todayโs issue of the Chinese Storytellers newsletter. Many spoke of the U.S. beacon of press freedom dimming in their eyes. Mia Li, a research scholar at Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School, wrote:
If the goal is to safeguard press freedom, this move only diminishes it. If the goal is to improve the quality of news, this move only deteriorates it. If the goal is to eliminate propaganda, this only hands Beijing a bigger and better talent pool to choose fromโฆ The new DHS visa rule will likely give Beijing exactly what it wanted โ an excuse to throw out more American reporters, regardless of which outlet they serve.
Read all the responses in the Chinese Storytellers newsletter.
More information on previous rounds of the tit-for-tat media spat:
- The U.S. tried to teach China a lesson about the media. It backfired.ย / NYT (porous paywall)
- Chinaโs expulsion of American journalists also affects Chinese staff โ and the future of reporting in Chinaย / Columbia Journalism Review
- China defends expelling journalistsย / The China Project
- U.S. limits Chinese staff at news agencies controlled by Beijingย / NYT (porous paywall)
- Beijing expels three Wall Street Journal reportersย / The China Project
- U.S. designates Chinese state media as โforeign missionsโย / The China Project