BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the Chinese government has asked some U.S. media outlets present in the country to submit information about their China operations.
Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian named the Associated Press, National Public Radio, CBS and United Press International news agency as companies asked to submit the requested information in writing within seven days.
The AP has requested more information about the Chinese government’s requirements and “will review them carefully,” a spokeswoman for the outlet said.
The editor in chief of China’s Global Times newspaper said on Twitter earlier on Wednesday that Beijing will announce reciprocal curbs on U.S. media outlets in the country.
The United States said in June it would start treating another four major Chinese media outlets as foreign embassies, following similar moves on other outlets earlier in the year.
The United States and China have been engaged in a series of retaliatory actions involving journalists in recent months, amid increasing tensions over the coronavirus pandemic and other issues.
(Reporting by Yew Lun Tian in Beijing and Arriana McLymore in Raleigh, North Carolina; writing by Se Young Lee; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Lisa Shumaker)
