China warns to retaliate against US curbs on Chinese outlets

China has warned to retaliate on the new restrictions imposed by the United States on four Chinese media outlets.

On Monday, the US State Department said it had reclassified four Chinese outlets, namely China Central Television, China News Service, the People’s Daily, and the Global Times, as “foreign missions” rather than media outlets in the US.

China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian on Tuesday described the latest US move as “bare-faced political suppression of Chinese media” that “further exposes the hypocrisy of the so-called freedom of speech and press which the US likes to flaunt.”

“We strongly urge the US to reject this Cold War mindset and ideological bias… otherwise, China will have no choice but to make an appropriate response,” Zhao said.

Back in February, Washington branded five Chinese outlets as “foreign missions.” The five were required to reduce their US-based staff.

It was unclear whether the four new organizations would be asked to cut the number of their staff.

“This is a very absurd decision. China-US relation is so tense that market-oriented media like the Global Times has been affected. It is regrettable. The US is losing self-confidence and inclusiveness. The country is chaotic,” tweeted Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of the Global Times on Tuesday.

China has already expelled more than a dozen US journalists to reciprocate past restrictions.

SS