No new restrictions on US media reporters

China’s foreign ministry on Monday denied that any new restrictions had been placed on journalists of US media outlets working in China.

News organizations including Bloomberg, CNN and the Wall Street Journal reported China has held off renewing the expiring press credentials of their journalists.

The Wall Street Journal’s Jeremy Page, who is British, as well as American CNN reporter David Culver and two non-American Bloomberg journalists were issued letters allowing them to continue working in China with their expired press credentials for about two months, the outlets reported respectively. Journalist visas in China typically last for one year.

China’s foreign ministry responded by saying applications for renewal were being processed and those reporters involved would not have their lives in China “affected in any way.” Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian pointed out that the US has significantly shortened Chinese journalists’ visa to no more than 90 days. Chinese journalists’ visas all expired in early August.

None of them have been granted the extension by the US side yet, Zhao said.

He accused the US of being “arrogant and unreasonable” in talks about the matter and “not addressing China’s normal and reasonable concerns and demands at all.”

“If the US government truly cares about American journalists, it should extend visas for all Chinese journalists as soon as possible, instead of taking journalists from the two countries as hostages for the certain politicians’ political interests,” Zhao said, adding China would take further action if the US did not extend visas for Chinese journalists.