The publishers of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post on Tuesday released a statement critical of the Chinese government’s decision to bar American journalists for the three publications from working in China.

The unusual statement, signed by A.G. Sulzberger of The Times, William Lewis of The Journal and Fred Ryan of The Post, was released online early Tuesday and was scheduled to appear in the rival newspapers’ Tuesday print editions.

“We strongly urge the Chinese government to reverse its decision to force the Americans working for our news organizations to leave the country and, more broadly, to ease the growing crackdown on independent news organizations that preceded this action,” the publishers said in the statement. “The media is collateral damage in a diplomatic dispute between the Chinese and U.S. governments, threatening to deprive the world of critical information at a perilous moment.”

On Wednesday, China announced that all American journalists at the three newspapers based in the country whose credentials were set to expire in 2020 had to hand in their press cards within 10 days. The action would affect at least 13 journalists, according to an estimate by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China.