US President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered four Chinese state-owned news outlets to slash the number of staff they have working in the US, part of a broader response to Beijing’s restrictions on US journalists, including its expulsion of three Wall Street Journal reporters last month.
The move risks further tit-for-tat measures from Beijing, as the world’s biggest economies continue a broader battle for global influence.
From Friday next week, the four outlets will be allowed to employ a combined total of 100 Chinese citizens in the US, down about 40 percent from now, two US Department of State officials told reporters on Monday on condition of anonymity.
Photo: AFP
The officials said the reductions were not expulsions, although about 60 employees would almost certainly need to leave the country.
“Unlike foreign media organizations in China, these entities are not independent news organizations,” US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said in a statement after the officials briefed reporters. “As we have done in other areas of the US-China relationship, we seek to establish a long-overdue level playing field.”
The outlets affected by the move are Xinhua news agency, China Global Television Network, China Radio International and China Daily Distribution Corp. A fifth, Hai Tian Development USA, is also included under the cap, but will not have to cut staff because it has only two Chinese employees on its payroll in the US.
The restrictions stem from an effort by the Trump administration to restore what officials call reciprocity between the way China and the US treat each other’s journalists.
China currently allows about 100 US citizens in the country and has severely restricted the number of visas it issues to foreign reporters.
More restrictions are likely to come soon.
Another senior US administration official, also briefing reporters ahead of Pompeo’s statement, said that the US plans to limit how long Chinese citizens are allowed to stay in the country on journalist visas.
That would match a Chinese requirement restricting foreign reporters to as little as 30 days before they must seek an extension.
China yesterday condemned the move, saying Chinese journalists have a “universally recognized professional reputation.”
“Out of a Cold War mindset the US is conducting political oppression on Chinese media agencies in the US,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) told reporters in Beijing. “We urge the US to correct its mistake at once and we reserve the right to take further actions.”
He said the move exposes the “hypocrisy of the United States’ so-called freedom of the press as blatant double standard and hegemonic bullying.”
Saying China reserves the right to react and take further action, Zhao added: “It was the US who broke the rules of the game first, China can only follow suit.”
Washington began mulling expulsions in earnest after China last month ordered the departure of the three Wall Street Journalreporters — two Americans and an Australian — after saying the outlet had refused to apologize for a “racially discriminatory” headline on an op-ed piece.
US officials have also said the reporters were expelled because of the Journal’s coverage of a Chinese government crackdown on Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang region.
The Journal has defended its reporters and, like most US outlets, said it operates with a strict separation between its news and opinion staffs. The op-ed piece in question referred to China as “the real sick man of Asia.”
Additional reporting by AFP
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
CHINA’s BULLYING: The former British prime minister said that he believes ‘Taiwan can and will’ protect its freedom and democracy, as its people are lovers of liberty Former British prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday said Western nations should have the courage to stand with and deepen their economic partnerships with Taiwan in the face of China’s intensified pressure. He made the remarks at the ninth Ketagalan Forum: 2025 Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prospect Foundation in Taipei. Johnson, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time, said he had seen Taiwan’s coastline on a screen on his indoor bicycle, but wanted to learn more about the nation, including its artificial intelligence (AI) development, the key technology of the 21st century. Calling himself an
RSS