Chinese journalists have long submitted their visa extension applications to the US government, but no one has received any clear reply, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at Monday’s media briefing.
China urged the US to stop the political suppression of Chinese media and journalists, and said it will be compelled to respond if the US continues going their wrong way.
“On May 8, the US significantly reduced the length of stay of Chinese journalists in the US to less than 90 days, with extensions to be applied for every three months. We learned that all Chinese journalists have long submitted their visa extension applications to the US, but none of them has received a reply,” Zhao said.
Zhao noted that the cause and responsibility for the current situation lies with the US. The US should ensure that the safety, property and other legitimate rights and interests of Chinese journalists in the US are not infringed upon, and that their normal work is not affected. If the US continues on the wrong path, China will be forced to make a proper response and resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.
Such visas typically do not need to be extended, unless the journalists change their working place. However, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on May 8 that Chinese reporters working for non-US media outlets would be restricted to 90-day work visas, and will have to apply for extensions every 90 days. The new rule took effect on May 11.
The US has been escalating its political suppression of Chinese media out of its Cold War mentality and ideological bias. Such actions have seriously interfered with the normal reporting activities of Chinese media in the US, and disrupted normal cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, Zhao said.
On the one hand, the US claims freedom of the press. However, it interferes in and obstructs the normal reporting of Chinese media in the US, which exposes its hypocrisy of the so-called freedom of the press, double standards and hegemony, he said.
