China threatens countermeasures because of restrictions on Chinese media in the United States. The Beijing leadership has the right to take action, Zhao Lijian from the State Department said today. The US decision meant that some Chinese journalists were expelled. This has a very negative impact on bilateral relations.
The US State Department said last week that there would be significantly fewer employees admitted to the US state media correspondents‘ offices in the United States. The news agency Xinhua, the newspaper „China Daily“ and state radio and television are affected.
As of next week, a total of 100 employees will be approved for all four media instead of the previous 160. This is a reaction to the „constant intimidation and harassment“ of foreign journalists in China, said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. A ministry official said a „pretty outrageous“ example of this is expelling Wall Street Journalists.
