CHINA AND US COLD WAR MENTALITY

               
                    China and United States standoff escalates as Beijing expels major US media staff, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post journalists among staff ordered to stop reporting and leave. China will expel US reporters of three major US news outlets, in a hugely damaging attack on foreign media coverage of the country and an escalation of the showdown over the press between Washington and Beijing. The decision announced just after midnight Beijing time, requires US citizens working for the three major media to halt reporting and hand in their press cards within 10 days, if their credential expire before the end of 2020. China usually gives journalists only 12 month visas and press cards, so the measure is likely to impact most correspondents, it will decimate some of the biggest newsrooms in China and force reporters with decades of experience covering the country to leave. They will be barred from working not only in the mainland but also Hong Kong, the self autonomous city that has in the past provided a base for China correspondents unable to get a visa from Chinese authorities. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said:"They will not be allowed to continue working as journalists in the People's Republic of China, including its Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions", the decision to include Hong Kong in the announcement raised disturbing questions about the city's autonomy, as it is meant to control its own media accreditation under the "one country, two systems" agreement between the United Kingdom and China that succeeded the handover from colonial rule. This is obviously an escalation in the tit mutual between Washington and Beijing, but the scale and scope of it is surprising, disproportionate and unprecedented, said Yuen Chan senior lecturer in journalism at City University London, it's particularly unusual and disturbing that Hong Kong and Macau are included in the restrictions. In the past American correspondents who have been kicked out or experienced visa delays have worked in their organisation's bureaus in Hong Kong.
Beijing has defended its decision to expel the US media, saying it was responding to "unreasonable oppression" of Chinese journalists in the United States as a diplomatic row escalates between the two countries, speaking at a regular press briefing, the Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijing has been compelled to take countermeasures after Washington imposed restrictions on staff at Chinese state media outlets in the United States. "We urge the US to take off its ideological prejudice, abandon cold war mentality, China is not one to start trouble but it will be not blink if trouble comes, we urge the US side to immediately stop suppressing Chinese media otherwise the United States of America will lose even more" Geng said. Hu Xijin, the editor of the state run tabloid Global Times, on Wednesday warned of more retaliation, is the two sides go after each other's journalists, American media will suffer more, pointing out there are 29 US outlets with operations in China, compared with 19 Chinese outlets in the US, whether the two sides fight in terms of numbers of people or the number of media outlets, it is the US that will suffer more. The expulsions come as the United States of America and China attempt to shift blame over the Coronavirus outbreak that emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, as China struggles to return to normal in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak, which killed more than 3,200 people in mainland China, affecting 169 countries and territories, more than 200,000 cases and more than 8,200 deaths around the world. It has pushed the idea that the virus may have originated in the US, Donald Trump has continued to call Covid-19 the "Chinese Virus". Analysts said the expulsion of foreign correspondents, many of whom have exposed issues such as re-education camps in Xinjiang or authorities mishandling of Coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, is indicative of an emboldened Beijing. Natasha Kassam, a research fellow at the Lowy Institute in Sydney and a former Australian diplomat said:"This is more about China feeling like it has the capacity to do what it's always wanted to do, which is to limit critical reporting within China. In one move China can demonstrate its strength to domestic audiences and stir up existing nationalism. It can demonstrate to the US it's happy to race to the bottom in decoupling, it can have a chilling effect on the journalists that remain". According to a statement from the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China (FCCC), more journalists may be affected depending on how broadly China enforces the ban "Journalists illuminate the world we live in, China through this action, is dimming itself" it said in a statement."By expelling journalists and keeping others in a state of visa uncertainty, China is overtly using its powers in an attempt to influence overseas news coverage, by punishing those who publish information authorities see as unfavorable and wish to keep quiet"
The executive editor of the New York Times, Dean Baquet said China had made a big mistake and urged the two governments to resolve the dispute quickly especially in the curent time "We strongly condemn the decision of the Chinese authorities to expel American journalists, an action that is irresponsible at a time when the world needs the free and open flow of credible information about the Coronavirus pandemic". The newspaper's board said in an editorial that China's crackdown was an unfortunate echo of the cold war, it couldn't come at a worse time because the global spread of the Coronavirus demands independent and trusted information from the country where the scourge began. it criticized China's claim to be responding in kind after the US tightened rules on Chinese state media, saying US publishers were not comparable to the organisations that Soviet and Chinese communist regimes sent abroad, it is common knowledge that their oversize staffs include spies.
The Wall Street Journal editor in chief, Matt Murray called it an unprecedented attack on freedom of the press at a time of crisis, trusted news reporting from and about China has never been more important, we oppose government interference with a free press anywhere in the world and our commitment to reporting fully and deeply on China is unchanged.
Correspondents facing imminent expulsion expressed their disappointment and frustration at deteriorating reporting conditions, legal observers questioned how it would be implemented since Hong Kong's governing basic law provides for freedom of the press and freedom of choice of employment. Charles Mok a Hong Kong legislator, said the inclusion of Hong Kong in the order was the "Death of One Country, Two Systems" the political system of special autonomy under which Hong Kong operates. The three papers whose staff are being expelled and two other US outlets, Time and Voice of America will also be required to declare in written form information about their staff, finance, operation and real estate in China.
The Washington Post's executive editor, Marty Baron said: We unequivocally condemn any action by china to expel US reporters, the Chinese government's decision is particularly regrettable because it comes in the midst of an unprecedented global crisis, when clear and reliable information about the international response to Covid-19 is essential. Severely limiting the flow of that information, which China now seeks to do, only aggravates the situation.