China on Tuesday threatened to launch an “appropriate response” after Washington cracked down on four more Chinese state media outlets in the United States.

Beijing decried Monday’s move by the US State Department as “bare-faced political suppression of Chinese media” which “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,” said foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian at a routine briefing.

The escalating media row has added to tensions between the two superpowers, with China expelling more than a dozen US journalists from the country this year.

The State Department denounced four organisations — China Central Television, the China News Service, the People’s Daily and the Global Times — as foreign missions and “propaganda outlets”, adding to five others designated in February.

Beijing hit back in March by expelling US citizens working for three major American newspapers — The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

– AFP

Subscribe
Notify of
3 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

Filipino news site Rappler to be first recipient of international fund for journalists facing threats to press freedom

International media groups started raising fund for journalists “facing extensive legal battles…

Japan govt hands out two reusable cloth face masks to every household to cope with the shortage of disposable masks

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Japanese citizens are expected to receive the…