China Revokes Press Credentials of Three at Wall Street Journal over Opinion Piece
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – China has revoked the press credentials of three journalists of the Wall Street Journal after the newspaper declined to apologize for a column that called country the “real sick man of Asia”, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
Spokesman Geng Shuang told a daily briefing that Beijing made several representations to the paper over the column, which China criticized as racist and denigrating its efforts to combat the coronavirus epidemic, but that the paper had failed to apologize or investigate those responsible, Reuters reported.
Geng did not identify the journalists whose credentials were being revoked.
The action comes after the United States said on Tuesday it would begin treating five major Chinese state-run media entities with US operations, including Xinhua News Agency, China Global Television Network and China Daily Distribution Corp the same as foreign embassies, requiring them to register employees and US properties with the State Department.
Geng told reporters that China opposed the new rules and Beijing reserved the right to respond.
