|
BEIJING, March 18-- China on Wednesday announced countermeasures against restrictive measures on Chinese media agencies in the United States, according to an official statement. The statement said that in recent years, the U.S. government has placed unwarranted restrictions on Chinese media agencies and personnel in the United States, purposely made things difficult for their normal reporting assignments, and subjected them to growing discrimination and politically motivated oppression. In December 2018, the United States ordered certain Chinese media organizations in the United States to register as "foreign agents." In February 2020, it designated five Chinese media entities in the United States as "foreign missions" and imposed a cap on the number of their employees, in effect expelling Chinese journalists from the United States. Such outrageous treatment prompted strong representations from China. China firmly objected to and strongly condemned the U.S. move, and stressed its reserved right to respond and take actions, said the statement. The statement said that China hereby announces the following measures, effective immediately: First, in response to the U.S. designation of five Chinese media agencies as "foreign missions", China demands, in the spirit of reciprocity, that the China-based branches of voice of America, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and Time declare in written form information about their staff, finance, operation and real estate in China. | 
