The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that China would take reciprocal countermeasures against six U.S. media companies after the U.S. listed six Chinese media outlets as "foreign missions."
China demands that the China-based branches of the American Broadcasting Corporation, The Los Angeles Times, Minnesota Public Radio, Bureau of National Affairs, Newsweek and Feature Story News declare in written form information about their staff, finances, operations and real estate in China within seven calendar days from Monday, the ministry said.
Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson from the ministry, said the countermeasures are entirely necessary and China is compelled to take them in response to the unreasonable oppression Chinese media organizations experience in the United States.
The measures are legitimate and justified self-defense in every sense, he said, adding that the United States, driven by a Cold War mentality and ideological bias, has exclusively targeted Chinese media organizations.
The U.S. has seriously tarnished the reputation and image of Chinese media organizations, seriously affected their normal operation in the United States, and seriously disrupted people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two countries, the spokesperson said. The move has therefore exposed the hypocrisy of the self-styled advocate of press freedom, he added.
China urges the United States to immediately change course, undo the damage, and stop its political oppression and arbitrary restrictions on Chinese media organizations, Zhao said. Should it choose to go further down the wrong path, it could expect more countermeasures from China, he warned.
