US, China trade journalist expulsions in escalating tit-for-tat row

The United States and China have exchanged expulsions of journalists in a fresh escalation of press freedom tensions, with Washington revoking the visa of a Chinese state media employee shortly after Beijing expelled a New York Times correspondent.

The Trump administration has withdrawn the visa of a Chinese national working for the state news agency Xinhua in the United States, in what appears to be a reciprocal move following China’s decision to expel New York Times journalist Vivian Wang, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

A State Department official confirmed there was a plan to revoke the visa, while a person familiar with the matter said the decision had been made, speaking on condition of anonymity due to visa privacy rules.

The expulsion of Wang, a China correspondent for The New York Times since 2020, was linked to Beijing’s reaction to a DealBook Summit event featuring Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te in a recorded interview. During the event, host Andrew Ross Sorkin referred to Taiwan as a country, prompting further diplomatic friction with Beijing.

“The Chinese government’s decision to expel Vivian Wang is wrong,” Joseph Kahn, the paper's executive editor, said in a statement published on the Times' corporate website. “Her expulsion will make it even harder for our global audience to get accurate, independent and in-depth reporting about the world’s second largest economy at a critical time.”

“The number of correspondents from American media outlets allowed to work in China has now fallen to an alarmingly low level, at a time when the need for people everywhere to understand China is greater than ever,” Kahn wrote.

The New York Times said it does not seek government action against journalists and has called for Wang’s reinstatement.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The move comes amid already strained media relations between the two countries, with US outlets facing sharply reduced access in China following repeated visa restrictions and expulsions. Beijing has previously targeted foreign journalists over coverage it deems unfavourable, including the expulsion of Wall Street Journal reporters in 2020.

Foreign correspondents’ groups have warned that reporting conditions in China have deteriorated significantly, with many journalists now operating on short-term visas or limited accreditation.

By Aghakazim Guliyev