THE Chinese government has booted out three Wall Street Journal reporters over a ‘racist’ article criticizing Beijing. The opinion piece, published on February 3, was headlined “China is the real sick man of Asia” and criticized China’s response to the coronavirus. Read our coronavirus live blog for all the latest news and updates. It was […]
THE Chinese government has booted out three Wall Street Journal reporters over a ‘racist’ article criticizing Beijing.
The opinion piece, published on February 3, was headlined “China is the real sick man of Asia” and criticized China’s response to the coronavirus.
It was written for the Wall Street Journal by Professor Walter Russell Mead of Bard College, New York, and had nothing to do with the three expelled reporters.
The piece criticized the Chinese government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, calling the Wuhan city government “secretive and self-serving”.
It also called the country’s efforts to stop the virus ineffective.
The Chinese government responded by expelling the paper’s news reporters Josh Chin, Chao Deng, and Philip Wen, giving them five days to leave the country.
China’s foreign ministry said it had repeatedly asked the newspaper for an apology but none had been given.
Geng Shuang, a foreign ministry spokesman, said: “The Chinese people do not welcome media that publish racist statements and maliciously attacks China.”
He added that the piece slandered the efforts of the Chinese government.
This is the first time in over 20 years that the country has expelled journalists holding valid credentials.
Earlier this month, the Chinese government was criticised for deliberately falsifying the coronavirus numbers.
Mr Chang, an expert in Chinese affairs and censorship, said that the official death count was “far too low”.
He told Fox News: “I think that the government in Wuhan and some other cities have just lost the ability to pick up corpses.
“What we are witnessing is essentially a breakdown in government and keeping accurate statistics is a very minor part of their priorities right now.”
The coronavirus situation is being described as China’s Chernobyl after it was initially covered up for months.
Mr Chang added: “The quarantine has aggravated a problem and that is [that] people can’t get to hospitals, so they are at home…they are dying.
“It’s also created panic. That panic has had consequences on, for instance, social cohesion which is absolutely necessary if you want to beat an epidemic.”
Beijing has a history of expelling foreign journalists over unfavourable coverage of the country and its leaders.
China’s latest action against WSJ comes after the US announced it will treat five Chinese state-run media companies in a similar way to foreign embassies.
The new rules will mean they need to register their employees and properties in the US with the State Department.
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