US Asks China to Reconsider

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that China was wrong to equate state-run media, which answer to Beijing, and independent US news outlets that can freely report and ask critical questions.

“I regret China’s decision today to further foreclose the world’s ability to conduct the free press operations that, frankly, would be really good for the Chinese people in these incredibly challenging global times, where more information, more transparency are what will save lives,” Pompeo told reporters.

“This is unfortunate,” Pompeo said. “I hope they will reconsider.”

Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times, condemned China’s move and voiced hope that Washington and Beijing would quickly resolve the dispute to let journalists keep working.

“The New York Times has been reporting on China since the 1850s, and we remain committed to covering the country, where we have more journalists than anywhere else outside the United States,” Baquet said.

“It is a grave mistake for China to move backwards and cut itself off from several of the world’s top news organizations.”

Both Baquet and Marty Baron, executive editor of The Washington Post, voiced concern that Beijing was expelling reporters in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic — in which Chinese authorities initially sought to suppress news.

“The Chinese government’s decision is particularly regrettable because it comes in the midst of an unprecedented global crisis, when clear and reliable information about the international response to Covid-19 is essential,” Baron said.