China has said that it will retaliate after U.S. limits the number of employees in U.S. bureaus of Chinese media
The People’s Republic of China today, i.e., Tuesday, March 3, 2020 said that it will retaliate against the United States (U.S.’s) move of reducing the number of Chinese people allowed to work in U.S. bureaus of major Chinese State-owned media.
The Spokesperson for Chinese Foreign Ministry – Zhao Lijian has said that U.S. was conducting “political oppression” on Chinese media in the U.S. He also stated that the move may adversely affect the U.S. – China ties, which have recently started showing signs of improvement, after the 2 officially signed the phase -1 agreement of the trade deal.
Earlier on Monday, March 2, 2020, the U.S. Department of State said that the employment restrictions would apply to 5 media houses whom the President of U.S. – Donald Trump believes are propaganda arms of the Chinese Government. These 5 media agencies include Xinhua, China Global Television Network (CGTN), China Radio International, China Daily and Haitian Development USA. The move will reduce the U.S. based Chinese employees in U.S. from 160 to 100.
Announcing the capping, the U.S. secretary of State – Mike Pompeo said, “The U.S. government is today instituting a personnel cap on certain PRC-controlled state media entities in the United States — specifically, the five entities that were designated by the U.S. State Department on February 18, 2020, as foreign missions of the People’s Republic of China. This cap limits the number of Chinese citizens permitted to work for these organizations in the United States at any given time.”
He further added, “It is our hope that this action will spur Beijing to adopt a more fair and reciprocal approach to U.S. and other foreign press in China.”
Taking it to twitter, Pompeo tweeted, “Today, we announced a personnel cap on Chinese government-controlled media organizations in the United States. We urge Beijing to respect freedom of expression and will continue to seek reciprocity across the bilateral relationship.”
Today, we announced a personnel cap on Chinese government-controlled media organizations in the United States. We urge Beijing to respect freedom of expression and will continue to seek reciprocity across the bilateral relationship.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) March 2, 2020
Responding to Pompeo’s statement that the new capping is the reciprocal of China’s expulsion of the 3 Wall Street Journal reporters by China, the Director of the Foreign Ministry Information Department, China – Hua Chunying, said that it is the U.S. who started this game.
She said, “Reciprocity? 29 US media agencies in China vs 9 Chinese ones in the US. Multiple-entry to China vs Single-entry to the US. 21 Chinese journalists denied visas since last year. Now the US kicked off the game, let’s play.”
Under the new rules, the organisations must notify the U.S. by Friday, March 6, 2020 of the names of employees whom they want to reduce. As per the new arrangement, Xinhua will be allowed 59 employees, CGTN will be permitted 30 employees and China Radio International will have 2 employs. Besides, China Daily Distribution Corporation will be allowed to retain 9 employees. The new restrictions will be implemented by March 13, 2020.
Terming the measures as inappropriate, the China’s Ambassador to the United Nations (U.N.) – Jun Zhang said, “This is a country which advocates of freedom of expression. And this is a country which is supposed to give full support to the work of correspondents and yes, indeed, between China and the United States, we have some differences, but we do not think it’s appropriate for the United States to take steps in interfering the work of journalists coming from China.”
Prior to this, in February 2020, the U.S. had announced that State-owned Chinese media houses in U.S. would be required to comply with rules governing foreign embassies and consulates. This also meant that these companies would now require approval from the U.S. for buying or leasing office space. Besides, they are also required to inform about the new hires and staff departures.
