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RODENT CONTROLWASHINGTON — Politi-
cal skirmishing between
Washington and Beijing
escalated Tuesday when
China announced it was ex-
pelling a large number of
U.S. journalists working for
three American news outlets
in response to Trump ad-
ministration restrictions on
Chinese media here.
U.S. Secretary of State
Michael R. Pompeo con-
demned China’s action and
accused the Chinese of
imperiling world health by
cracking down on independ-
ent journalism during the
widening coronavirus pan-
demic.
“This is unfortunate,”
Pompeo said Tuesday in a
news conference at the State
Department, where report-
ers were seated several feet
apart from one another as a
precaution against conta-
gion.
“I regret China’s decision
today to further foreclose
the world’s ability to con-
duct the free press opera-
tions that, frankly, would be
really good for the Chinese
people in these incredibly
challenging global times,
where more information,
more transparency, are
what will save lives,” he said.
The Foreign Correspond-
ents’ Club of China said later
Wednesday that the effec-
tive expulsions involved at
least 13 American reporters,
an unprecedentedly high
number.
Earlier this year, China
expelled three journalists
working for the Wall Street
Journal, thought to be the
largest action against the
foreign press in the country
since the Mao Tse-tung era,
which ended in 1976.
“Their imminent banish-
ment from journalism in
China diminishes us in num-
ber and in spirit, though not
in our commitment to vigor-
ously cover China,” the
group said in a statement.
“There are no winners in the
use of journalists as diplo-
matic pawns by the world’s
two preeminent economic
powers.”
China’s Foreign Ministry
said in a news release posted
early Wednesday that press
credentials will not be re-
newed for American journal-
ists working for the Wall
Street Journal, the Washing-
ton Post and the New York
Times. The credentials are
due to expire before the end
of 2020, but the ministry de-
manded they be turned in
within 10 days. The journal-
ists would presumably be re-quired to leave China at that
point.
They will also be banned
from working as journalists
in Hong Kong and Macao,
the ministry said, adding
that the actions were in re-
prisal for the “unreasonable
oppression” of Chinese me-
dia in the United States.
China also said it would take
action against the Voice of
America and Time.
In February, the State
Department designated five
Chinese media firms as “for-
eign missions,” meaning
they would be regarded as
embassies and required to
inform the U.S. of move-ments of the staffers and dis-
close some financial records.
The Trump administration
argued the companies, in-
cluding the New China News
Agency, were propaganda
tools of the Chinese Com-
munist Party. A day later,
China expelled three Wall
Street Journal reporters, for
what authorities there
claimed was a derogatory
headline in the paper’s opin-
ion section.
In early March, the U.S.
capped the number of Chi-
nese nationals who can work
at the five media organiza-
tions, in effect expelling
nearly 40% of their staff, re-ducing the total from 160 to
100 people.
Although President
Trump has gone out of his
way to praise Chinese Presi-
dent Xi Jinping on his han-
dling of the crisis, relations
between the two countries
are strained, especially over
trade.
Pompeo has been more
direct in his criticisms. On
Monday, the State Depart-
ment said, he phoned senior
Chinese officials to complain
about what he called outra-
geous disinformation in sug-
gesting that the U.S. military
brought the coronavirus to
Wuhan, the Chinese citywhere the outbreak is be-
lieved to have started.
The Chinese ambas-
sador was also summoned
to the State Department on
Friday to receive a “stern
representation.”
“The disinformation
campaign that they are wag-
ing is designed to shift re-
sponsibility,” Pompeo said
Tuesday.
“Every nation has a re-
sponsibility to share all of
their data ... in as timely and
accurate a fashion as they
have the ability to do,” he
added. “The Chinese Com-
munist Party had a respon-
sibility to do this not only
for Americans and Italians
and South Koreans and Ira-
nians who are now suffering,
but for their own people
as well.”
China initially tried to si-
lence its own doctors and
others who were sounding
the alarm, then later im-
posed draconian contain-
ment measures that Beijing
says have slowed the spread
of the disease.
Pompeo and Trump have
refused to use the scientific
name for the virus that
causes the respiratory dis-
ease COVID-19, instead call-
ing it the Wuhan virus or the
Chinese virus.Times staff writer Alice Su
in Beijing contributed to
this report.China to expel American journalists
A correspondents’ club says the unprecedented move involves at least 13 U.S. reporters
By Tracy Wilkinson
U.S. SECRETARY of State Michael R. Pompeo said that independent journalism is crucial “in these incred-
ibly challenging global times, where more information, more transparency, are what will save lives.”Nicholas KammAFP/Getty Images‘I regret China’s
decision today to
further foreclose
the world’s ability
to conduct ... free
press operations.’
— Michael R.
Pompeo,
U.S. secretary of State, noting
the need for transparency
during the coronavirus crisisCORONAVIRUS