The Trump government announced that it is severing ties with four Chinese state-run media organizations that presently operate in the United States in his new restrictions round which has sparked issues of retaliation from China.
According to State Department officials, the action is for American citizens to let them know that these Chinese organizations are reviewed under the country’s government as part of propaganda strategies for the Chinese government. The companies and their resources will be investigated for further decision-making.
This decision has ignited controversy in an attempt to counter aggressive policies implemented by China. Although, the other side of the coin says that Donald Trump has fondly spoken about Chinese leader Xi Jinping on social media and that he has undermined the campaign in the past.
Back in February, right after the first round following the expelling of three American journalists from The Wall Street Journal led to the imposition of visa quotas on five organizations that were initially attributed as functionalities of foreign governments.
Hence, the visas of 60 employees were blocked and the Chinese government then went on to expel American journalists from three well-known media houses. The action led to the departure of 13 journalists from China. The four organizations that were designated on Monday are Global Times, People’s Daily, China News Service, and China Central Television. According to experts, these organizations were not operating independently and were functionally controlled by the Chinese government or the Chinese Communist Party.
Apart from these, The State also designated China Daily Distribution Corp. and China Radio International. However, there was no official account of how many foreign employees were working there. The pattern of coverage of global news out of China has intensified over the months. Also, their government has refrained from issuing visas to correspondents reducing the time from 1 year to one month. The Chinese government carried out these visa policies on journalists from The New York Times and other organizations and then expelled all of them by March.
