The New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal have hit back at China in separate statements following the large-scale expulsion of US journalists, accusing Beijing of having a cold war mindset and carrying out an “unprecedented attack on freedom of the press”.
The New York Times’s executive editor said the move to force out foreign reporters was “especially irresponsible” during the coronavirus pandemic.
The newspaper’s editorial board spoke out after Beijing said it would expel US reporters working for the Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal as part of an escalating war of words between Washington and Beijing.
The board said China’s crackdown was “an unfortunate echo of the cold war, and it couldn’t come at a worse time. The global spread of the coronavirus demands independent and trusted information from the country where the scourge began.”
It criticised China’s claim to be responding in kind after the US tightened rules on Chinese state media – saying US publishers were not comparable to the organisations that Soviet and Chinese Communist regimes sent abroad. “It is common knowledge that their oversize staffs include spies,” it said.
The board pointedly noted China’s dislike of unfavourable reporting, saying: “The Chinese Communist party is not the first authoritarian regime to adopt President Trump’s characterisation of the press.”
Gerry Shih, the Washington Post’s China correspondent who faces expulsion, said on Twitter that reporting conditions inside the country had become increasingly difficult.
Gerry Shih (@gerryshih)Very disappointed to leave China (and aforementioned apt) but I don’t imagine Ill stop covering this beat. Thinking back, reporting conditions have become so difficult that much of the China stories I’m most proud of were in fact reported outside
March 18, 2020
Matt Murray, the Wall Street Journal editor in chief, called it an “unprecedented attack on freedom of the press” at a time of crisis. He said: “Trusted news reporting from and about China has never been more important. We oppose government interference with a free press anywhere in the world. Our commitment to reporting fully and deeply on China is unchanged.”
The Washington Post’s executive editor Marty Baron said: “We unequivocally condemn any action by China to expel US reporters. The Chinese government’s decision is particularly regrettable because it comes in the midst of an unprecedented global crisis, when clear and reliable information about the international response to Covid-19 is essential. Severely limiting the flow of that information, which China now seeks to do, only aggravates the situation.”
Dean Baquet, executive editor of the New York Times, said China had made a “grave mistake” and urged the two governments to resolve the dispute quickly. “We strongly condemn the decision of the Chinese authorities to expel American journalists, an action that is especially irresponsible at a time when the world needs the free and open flow of credible information about the coronavirus pandemic,” he said.
The three papers whose staff are being expelled – and two other US outlets, Time and Voice of America – will also be required to “declare in written form information about their staff, finance, operation and real estate in China”.
China said it was responding to a US move last month to tighten controls on Chinese state media organisations, classifying them as foreign missions.
“In recent years, the US government has placed unwarranted restrictions on Chinese media agencies and personnel in the US, purposely made things difficult for their normal reporting assignments, and subjected them to growing discrimination and politically-motivated oppression,” China’s foreign ministry said.
“The above-mentioned measures are entirely necessary and reciprocal countermeasures that China is compelled to take in response to the unreasonable oppression the Chinese media organisations experience in the US.”
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo disputed the comparison, saying reporters in Washington enjoy press freedoms that don’t exist in China.
“The individuals that we identified a few weeks back were not media that were acting here freely,” he said. “They were part of Chinese propaganda outlets. We’ve identified these as foreign missions under American law. These aren’t apples to apples, and I regret China’s decision today to further foreclose the world’s ability to conduct free press operations.”
source https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/mar/18/us-media-accuse-china-of-cold-war-mentality-after-move-to-expel-journalists
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