China announced that it would expel three journalists from the American "Wall Street Journal" because of the title of an editorial published earlier this month, which it considered "racial discrimination", while the newspaper confirmed that its journalists were asked to leave within five days.
The expulsion decision, which is considered the most severe against foreign media, came in the past few years, while Beijing also condemned Washington's decision to tighten laws on the official Chinese media in the United States, saying it was "irrational and unacceptable."
Later, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned this decision and urged Beijing to respect freedom of the press.
"The responsible countries are aware that the free press publishes the facts and expresses their views," Pompeo said in a statement. "The correct answer is to present opposition arguments, not to restrict freedom of expression."
William Lewis, chief executive of the Dow Jones Group, the Wall Street Journal publisher, said in a statement sent to AFP: "It was not our intention to offend with this address. However, he clearly annoyed the Chinese, which we regret."
The official recalled that opinion pieces on the Wall Street Journal were completely separate from the editorial board.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Jing Shuang said the editorial entitled "China is the actual sick man in Asia" involved "racial discrimination" and "arousal", and condemned the newspaper for not making an official apology.
"So today, China has decided to withdraw the cards of three reporters from the Wall Street Journal in Beijing," Ging told a press conference.
The newspaper reported that the deputy director of the office, Josh Chen, and the reporter Zhao Ding, both US citizens, and journalist Philip Wynn, who is Australian, were asked to leave the country within five days.
The article, written by Professor at the University of Bard Walter Russell Mead, also criticized the Chinese government's first response measures to the emerging Corona Virus crisis - the Wuhan city government described the epidemic as "secret and serving its interests," considering national efforts ineffective.
The article, published on February 3, "defames the efforts of the Chinese government and the Chinese people in combating the epidemic."
The epidemic, which the World Health Organization has named Covid-19, has killed more than 2,000 people in China, infected more than 74,000 others, and has moved to more than 20 countries around the world.
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