China's decision to revoke the press credentials of three Wall Street Journal (WSJ) journalists working in Beijing over their recent article on the new coronavirus is not a matter of freedom of speech, as was stated by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang said on Thursday
BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th February, 2020) China's decision to revoke the press credentials of three Wall Street Journal (WSJ) journalists working in Beijing over their recent article on the new coronavirus is not a matter of freedom of speech, as was stated by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang said on Thursday.
The ministry issued its decision on Wednesday over a February 3 opinion article the three journalists wrote titled "China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia," which the ministry labeled as "racially discriminatory." Later that same day, Pompeo condemned the decision on Twitter, saying that China should not restrict the freedom of the press.
"This is not a question of freedom of speech, as Pompeo said. The Wall Street Journal published an article with attacks denigrating China; moreover, it chose a headline colored with racial discrimination, which is far from objective facts and professional ethics, causing outrage among the Chinese people and of the whole international community. Pompeo speaks of freedom of speech, is it really possible that the publication of such a discriminatory article, which publicly insults a whole nation and a whole country, is the US' so-called freedom of speech?" Geng said at a briefing.
The diplomat went on to address Pompeo directly, saying that if the US had the freedom to shame others China had the right to respond.
China had repeatedly appealed to the Wall Street Journal with demands that they acknowledged their mistake, made a public apology and punish those responsible, which the US newspaper never did.
"We are not interested in the internal distribution of the Wall Street Journal, there is only one publication with this title in the world, and they should be responsible for their actions," Geng said.
The Chinese government has ordered WSJ China Bureau Chief Jonathan Chin and reporter Chao Deng, both US nationals, as well as reporter Philip Wen, an Australian national, to leave the country within five days.
China's move to expel the WSJ journalists came after the United States on Tuesday designated five Chinese media outlets as foreign missions � Xinhua news Agency; China Global Television Network, which falls under China Central Television, CCTV; China Radio International; China Daily Distribution Corporation; and Hai Tian Development USA.
