China: China on Monday called on the United States to take “concrete actions” to safeguard the rights of Chinese journalists working within its borders. This appeal comes amidst heightened tensions between the two nations over media-related disputes, with accusations from Beijing that Washington is politicizing media issues.

According to Anadolu Agency, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian highlighted the discrepancy in how both countries handle journalist visas. He noted that while China has shown flexibility and facilitated visas for numerous US journalists, Chinese journalists face significant hurdles in obtaining approval for reporting in the United States. Lin’s remarks follow a report by The New York Times, stating that China expelled one of its correspondents, prompting the US to revoke the visa of a Chinese state media journalist.

Lin defended China’s stance against The New York Times, accusing the publication of supporting Taiwanese separatism by referring to Taiwan as a country. He asserted that this violates the one-China principle and the agreed-upon China-US joint communiques, urging the newspaper to correct its actions.

According to The New York Times, Chinese officials linked the expulsion of their correspondent to a summit event in New York featuring Taiwanese leader Lai Ching-te. The correspondent, however, was not involved in the event, and the newspaper described the expulsion as unjust.

Lin also criticized what he termed as “political suppression” faced by Xinhua News Agency journalists in the United States, attributing the root cause of the media tensions to the US politicizing media-related matters.