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SCMP: China expels three Wall Street Journal reporters over ‘racist’ commentary as media becomes latest battleground in rivalry with US
* Beijing kicks out journalists hours after US brands state media outlets ‘foreign mission’ but insists move was prompted by ‘sick man of Asia’ opinion piece
* US newspaper says two Americans and an Australian, all of whom had covered Xinjiang, have been given five days to leave China
The news media became the latest focus of the escalating tensions between the US and China on Wednesday after Beijing expelled three Wall Street Journal reporters over a commentary it deemed racist.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a news conference that China had raised repeated objections to the US newspaper over the opinion piece headlined “China is the real sick man of Asia” and felt “regret” that the Journal had not offered a public apology.
The decision to revoke the reporting credentials was announced hours after the US declared that five Chinese media outlets were “foreign missions”, saying they were effectively under government control. Geng said in the same briefing that Beijing “reserved the right to respond” to this move.
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WNU Editor: I am not sure if this is working for Beijing. No one trusts the Chinese government, even more so among the Chinese themselves. Kicking out a few Wall Street Journal journalists is not going to change the situation.