Pompeo bashes China crackdown on US journalists

By James Reinl

NEW YORK (AA) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday criticized China’s decision to rescind the media credentials of more American journalists in Beijing in what appeared to be a deepening rift between the two powers.

Speaking with reporters in Washington, Pompeo said Beijing’s decision to revoke the credentials of journalists for three major U.S. newspapers would hurt global awareness about the coronavirus pandemic.

“The Chinese will tell you that they want people to know more about the country, and yet they continue to take actions like the one you see today where they deny the world the capacity to know what’s really going on inside their country,” said Pompeo.

“I regret China’s decision today to further foreclose the world’s ability to conduct free press operations, which frankly would be really good for the Chinese people in these incredibly challenging global times when more information, more transparency is what will save lives. I hope they'll reconsider.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Beijing said it was hitting back against U.S. restrictions on Chinese journalists, including by rescinding the credentials of American correspondents with the Washington Post, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal.

Previously, the U.S. cut by almost half the number of Chinese passport holders permitted to work for Chinese government-run media outlets in the U.S., saying it was pushing back against a similar crackdown by Beijing.

“The individuals that we identified a few weeks back were not media acting here freely. They were part of Chinese propaganda outfits,” added Pompeo. “These aren't apples to apples.”