Journalists for US media outlets face possible expulsion from China

China is delaying the renewal of press cards for at least five journalists working at four US media outlets, an organisation of foreign correspondents said Monday, making them vulnerable to expulsion in apparent retribution for Washington's targeting of Chinese reporters working in the United States.

Atlanta-based CNN said its China correspondent was among those given a letter authorising him to continue reporting for the next two months instead of the usual one-year press card.

He was told the move was unrelated to his reporting but was merely a reciprocal measure in response to the actions of the Trump administration toward Chinese media, making it the latest manifestation of the deteriorating state of US-China relations that have fallen to their lowest level in decades.

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China, or FCCC, said The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg have also been targeted. It did not name the fourth outlet, but said more foreign journalists are expected to receive similar treatment. While the targeted outlets are all American, the journalists involved are of various nationalities.

China's move comes after the US capped the number of Chinese citizens who could be employed by Chinese media outlets and placed them on 90-day visas.

China first responded in March by expelling reporters from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. Those affected have been both US and non-US citizens.

Official press cards are used to obtain residency permits usually good for one year, while the letters issued by the Chinese foreign ministry could be revoked at any time, thus putting (the journalists) at constant threat of expulsion, the FCCC said in a statement.

The US moves were fed by complaints that Chinese journalists working for state media acted more as propagandists and agents for the Communist Party than as genuine reporters.

The US had already required those outlets to register as foreign entities with the US, similar to consulates and embassies.

They also come against the backdrop of worsening US-China relations on a range of issues, including human rights, trade, technology, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the South China Sea and Chinese treatment of its Muslim minority in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.

Relations hit a new low in July when the US ordered China to close its consulate in Houston and China demanded the shuttering of the US mission in the southwestern city of Chengdu.

Beijing's latest actions have turned accredited foreign journalists in China into pawns in a wider diplomatic conflict," the FCCC statement said, calling on Beijing to halt this cycle of tit-for-tat reprisals in what is quickly becoming the darkest year yet for media freedoms."

A record 17 foreign journalists were expelled from China in the first half of this year alone by having their press credentials withdrawn, while others have had their residency permits shortened to as little as one month, the club said.

The FCCC has also documented increasing harassment and surveillance of foreign journalists in China, including physical assault and cyberattacks.