China revokes press credentials of US reporters at three major outlets

March 17, 2020

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is seen in Beijing on December 13, 2019. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs today announced that U.S. journalists at three major outlets would have their press credentials cancelled. (Reuters/Jason Lee)

Washington, D.C., March 17, 2020 — In response to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs notice that it will revoke the press credentials of U.S. citizens working as journalists for the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post whose visas expire by the end of the year, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement:

“The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns this senseless but entirely predictable retaliation by the Chinese government, which threatens to sharply curtail the reporting operations of major U.S. publications in China,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Beijing and Washington should negotiate to solve their differences and stop taking measures that cripple news reporting during a global pandemic, when the public’s need for accurate information is greater than ever.”

The Chinese decision follows the U.S. State Department’s announcement on March 2 that Chinese state media outlets Xinhua, CGTN, China Radio, China Daily, and The People’s Daily would be limited to 100 visas in total for Chinese citizens working in the United States, as CPJ documented at the time.