State Department classifies five Chinese state-run outlets as ‘foreign missions’

The State Department announced on Oct. 21, 2020, that it was classifying six additional Chinese media companies operating in the United States as foreign missions: Yicai Global, Jiefang Daily, Xinmin Evening News, Social Sciences in China Press, Beijing Review and Economic Daily. The department had re-classified the U.S. bureaus of nine other Chinese media organizations earlier in 2020.

Under this classification, all 15 outlets are now required to obtain approval from the State Department’s Office of Foreign Missions to lease or buy real estate, and must report a list of all their employees, including their addresses and ages, on an ongoing basis to the office.

"We're not placing any restrictions on what these outlets can publish in the United States," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at a press briefing. "We simply want to ensure that American people, consumers of information, can differentiate between news written by a free press and propaganda distributed by the Chinese Communist Party itself. They're not the same thing."

The move is the latest in a series of escalations between the U.S. and China, with journalists in the middle.

Since the initial reclassifications in February, the Chinese government has expelled journalists employed at U.S. outlets in China and ordered some U.S. media organizations to disclose their finances and operations in the country. The U.S. government has ordered some Chinese outlets to reduce their number of employees in the U.S. and reclassified additional outlets. Both governments have placed limits on journalists’ visas.

The Chinese government imposed new visa restrictions on foreign journalists working for U.S. news organizations in September 2020, the latest in a series of tit-for-tat reprisals between the governments of the United States and China targeting media outlets, according to news reports.

CNN Business reported that over the first week of September, multiple journalists were unable to renew their press credentials and were instead given a letter stating that their applications were being processed. The press cards are necessary for residence permits — the equivalent of visas that allow foreigners to live in China — these journalists were informed they would receive permits for only two months, rather than the typical one year.

Journalists from CNN, Bloomberg, Getty Images and the Wall Street Journal are among those affected by the change, according to The New York Times.

CNN Business reported that the move is in direct response to the looming Nov. 6 visa expiry deadline for Chinese journalists in the U.S. set by the State Department in May. The two-month residence permits for American journalists in China are set to expire on the same date.

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China said in a statement posted on Twitter that it was “dismayed” by the stoppage of press card renewals.

“[The Ministry of Foreign Affairs] has further indicated that the letters issued to foreign journalists in China could be revoked at any time, thus putting them at constant threat of expulsion,” it said.

“These coercive practices have again turned accredited foreign journalists in China into pawns in a wider diplomatic conflict.”

At the end of June, the U.S. State Department announced the reclassification of four additional Chinese media outlets as “foreign missions,” bringing the total of news organizations reclassified under the act to nine.

Following the initial reclassifications in February, China expelled three Wall Street Journal reporters. The State Department then required the reclassified Chinese outlets to reduce their number of employees in the U.S. by mid-March. Shortly after, China announced that it would expel American journalists working for theTimes, the Journal and The Washington Post. In early May, the U.S. set a 90-day work visa limit for Chinese journalists working for foreign media outlets.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus told CNN that there is concern that the policy will further deteriorate the reporting environment in China.

“Beijing's actions prove time and again that the [ruling Chinese Communist Party] is afraid of independent and investigative media reporting that has only broadened and deepened the world's understanding of China for the better,” Ortagus said.

The Times reported that during a press briefing on Sept. 7, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian insisted that foreign correspondents’ work and lives will not be affected by the policy. He also pointed to the U.S.’s “hypocrisy on so-called freedom of the press.”

“If the US truly cares about American journalists in China, it should extend visas for all Chinese journalists as soon as possible," Zhao added. "If the US insists on going down the wrong path, China will be compelled to take necessary actions to firmly uphold our legitimate rights and interests.”

The Chinese government demanded on July 1, 2020, that four U.S. news organizations disclose details about their finances and operations in the country.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijan said during a press briefing that The Associated Press, United Press International, CBS News and NPR News must submit the relevant paperwork to the Chinese government within seven days, CNN Business reported. The Ministry made a similar demand of five other U.S. media outlets in mid-March, requiring detailed information on their staff, finance, real estate and operations in China.

The AP said in a statement to CNN that it was seeking more information and would review the requirements carefully.

An NPR spokesperson told Reuters that the outlet is also studying the request and is in communication with the relevant authorities.

The move comes a little over a week after the U.S. State Department announced the reclassification of four additional Chinese media outlets as “foreign missions,” bringing the total of news organizations reclassified under the act to nine.

Following the initial reclassifications in February, China expelled three Wall Street Journal reporters. The State Department then required the reclassified Chinese outlets to reduce their number of employees in the U.S. by mid-March. Shortly after, China announced that it would expel American journalists working for The New York Times, the Journal and The Washington Post.

Zhao said during the press briefing that “the U.S. measures are based on Cold War mentality and ideological prejudices.”

“We urge the U.S. to immediately change course, correct its error, and desist in the political suppression and unreasonable restriction of Chinese media,” he added, according to CNBC.

The State Department announced on June 22, 2020, that it was classifying four additional Chinese-run media outlets in the United States as foreign missions: China Central Television, China News Service, the People’s Daily and the Global Times. The department had re-classified the U.S. bureaus of five other Chinese media organizations in February.

Under this classification, all nine outlets are now required to obtain approval from the State Department’s Office of Foreign Missions to lease or buy real estate, and must report a list of all their employees, including their addresses and ages, on an ongoing basis to the office.

State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a statement, “While Western media are beholden to the truth, PRC media are beholden to the Chinese Communist Party.”

“The decision to designate these entities is not based on any content produced by these entities, nor does it place any restrictions on what the designated entities may publish in the United States. It simply recognizes them for what they are,” Ortagus added.

The day after the announcement, China’s foreign ministry criticized the actions, Reuters reported, and called on the U.S. to reverse course or warned that it would respond. Spokesman Zhao Lijian did not elaborate on possible responses.

The move is the latest in a series of escalations between the U.S. and China, with journalists in the middle.

Following the February reclassification by the U.S., China expelled three Wall Street Journal reporters. The State Department then required the reclassified Chinese outlets to reduce their number of employees in the U.S. by mid-March. Shortly after, China announced that it would expel American journalists working for The New York Times, the Journal and The Washington Post.

In May, The Department of Homeland Security announced that Chinese journalists working in the U.S. for non-American outlets would be restricted to a 90-day work visa.

The Department of Homeland Security announced that as of May 11, 2020, Chinese journalists working in the United States for non-American outlets would be restricted to a 90-day work visa, The New York Times reported.

Previously, the visas granted were generally open-ended. The new restrictions, the Times reported, were quietly posted and quickly criticized by Chinese state-controlled news media.

In February, the State Department re-classified the U.S. bureaus of five Chinese media organizations as foreign missions. In response, China expelled three Wall Street Journal reporters.

The State Department then gave a March 13 deadline for the Chinese outlets to reduce the number of employees in America. Less than a week later, on March 17, China announced that it would expel American journalists working for the Times, the Journal and The Washington Post.

In response to the new visa restrictions, the Committee to Protect Journalist issued a statement calling the decision a “fool’s game”:

“This move by the United States only invites further harsh retaliation from China, where the expulsions of U.S. journalists have already devastated U.S.-owned news operations in the country, partly blinding the world to China's response to COVID-19.”

Following an escalation of words and restrictions between the United States and China, China announced on March 17, 2020, that it would expel American journalists working in the country for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

According to a translated statement published by state-run outlet Global Times, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced: “[American journalists] whose press credentials are due to expire before the end of 2020 notify the Department of Information of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs within four calendar days starting from today and hand back their press cards within ten calendar days.”

“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 statement continued.

According to the Times, the full scope of the directive is unclear, and the statement alludes to reciprocal measures against American journalists in response to “the discriminatory restrictions the U.S. has imposed on Chinese journalists with regard to visa, administrative review and reporting.”

In February, the U.S. State Department announced it was classifying the U.S. bureaus of five Chinese state-run media outlets as foreign missions.

In response, China expelled three Journal reporters, citing anger at a headline in the outlet’s Opinion section.

The State Department then gave a March 13 deadline for the Chinese outlets to reduce the number of employees in America.

With this latest expulsion, the Chinese Ministry is also demanding that the three newspapers, as well as Voice of America and Time magazine, provide the government detailed information on their staff, finance, real estate and operations in China.

Two weeks after designating five Chinese state-run media outlets as foreign missions, the State Department is now requiring nearly all of them to reduce the number of employees in their U.S. bureaus.

Calling the move a “major escalation of a media war between Beijing and Washington,” The Washington Post reported that on March 2, 2020, the Trump administration ordered Xinhua News Agency, China Global Television Network, China Radio International and the China Daily newspaper to reduce the number of Chinese nationals working on their staffs by roughly 40 percent.

The fifth organization to be classified under the Foreign Missions Act, the distributor for the newspaper People’s Daily, was not ordered to reduce its numbers because it has no Chinese citizens working in the United States. The outlets have a March 13 deadline to comply.

The order reduces the number of Chinese nationals working in the U.S from 160 to 100. The caps do not affect legal residents of the U.S., The Wall Street Journal reported, but limit China Radio International to two Chinese nationals, China Daily to nine, China Global Television Network to 30 and Xinhua News Agency to 59.

At a press briefing in Beijing following the announcement of the cap of Chinese nationals, the Journal said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian likened the move to political oppression, and that his country was reserving the right to respond. China expelled three Journal reporters in February.