China condemns the American measures against its official media

Beijing-Sana

Beijing denounced Washington's decision to tighten measures against Chinese official media in the United States and designate them as "official government entities", saying it was unacceptable and illogical.

"The United States has always advocated freedom of the press, but it is interfering with and obstructing the usual work of Chinese media in the United States," Beijing Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in remarks quoted by AFP. "Beijing reserves the right to respond to this issue."

To that, China announced that it withdrew the business cards of three journalists from the American "Wall Street Journal" because of the title "racist" of an opinion article published earlier this month.

In this regard, Geng said, "The article titled" China is the actual sick man in Asia "is racist," noting that the newspaper did not issue an official apology or investigate the article.

The Chinese reaction comes after the US State Department announced earlier today that the United States will treat the official Chinese media as government entities classified as five of them, “official government entities” under the Foreign Scholarships Act, which means that they will be treated as if they were diplomatic websites of the Chinese government. And subject to the same restrictions.

This step is the latest in a series of US measures targeting China, as relations between the two sides have recently witnessed severe tension against the background of Washington's interference in Hong Kong affairs, in addition to US President Donald Trump's fabrication of a trade war with China and the imposition of fees on Chinese imports and goods in a desperate attempt to pressure Beijing to make illegal trade concessions, which China has responded with similar measures within its natural right to respond.