The Communist Chinese government expelled journalists from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post on Tuesday to tighten its grip on the coronavirus story.
The Communists blamed the U.S. for the decision while threatening to throw out more journalists.
The journalists from the media outlets have ten days to turn in their credentials:
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday it was demanding all U.S. nationals working for The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Washington Post whose credentials expire by the end of the year turn those credentials in within 10 days.The measure would affect most of the U.S. journalists working at those newspapers in China, which issues press credentials for up to 12 months and has recently limited them to six and, in some cases, as little as one month.The affected reporters won’t be allowed to report anywhere in China, including the semiautonomous territories of Hong Kong and Macau, the statement said.It also ordered the three newspapers and two other media outlets—Voice of America and Time magazine—to submit information about staff, finances, operations and real estate in China.
Of course, China blamed America because “the Trump administration announced a personnel cap on four state-run Chinese media outlets—Xinhua News Agency, China Radio International, China Global Television Network and China Daily—forcing them to reduce their Chinese employees in the U.S. to 100 in total, from 160.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denied it’s the same thing:
“This isn’t apples to apples,” Mr. Pompeo told reporters at the State Department. “You all know the press freedoms you have…We know that that kind of freedom doesn’t exist inside of China.”He said the individuals affected by the U.S. policy decision are employed not by independent media organizations, but by “Chinese propaganda outlets.” He said he hoped Beijing would reconsider its decision.Although Chinese officials claim to want others to better understand events inside China, Mr. Pompeo said, Beijing works to “deny the world the capacity to know what’s really going on” there.
He’s not wrong.
The Communist Chinese government double-downed on its blame on Wednesday. From Fox News:
On Wednesday, China defended its decision to kick out U.S. reporters, saying it had been “compelled” to respond to “unreasonable oppression” of Chinese journalists working in the United States.”We urge the U.S. to take off its ideological prejudice, abandon Cold War mentality,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said during a press conference. “China is not one to start trouble, but it will not blink if trouble comes. We urge the U.S. side to immediately stop suppressing Chinese media, otherwise, the U.S. side will lose even more.”
The coronavirus began in China, which is why we call it the Wuhan coronavirus. As news came out about how China suppressed information about it, President Donald Trump amped up his criticism of the Communist government.
Can you blame him? No.
China started a propaganda campaign to fix its image around the world. Funny thing is they think the majority of people will accept it. Unfortunately, I still see people say it’s racist to call it the Wuhan coronavirus or Chinese coronavirus.
The New York Times called out the Communist government’s efforts to suppress information about the virus:
Under Mr. Xi, the news media has come under an increasingly tight grip and foreign reporters who displease the authorities have been punished with visa denials. In recent weeks, as the coronavirus spread through China, the government has cracked down on domestic and foreign reporting, muzzling medical professionals and censoring and removing reports and commentaries online that have challenged the official narrative.
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