Chinese journalists ordered to stop taking supportive stances towards Japan

The Communist Party has ordered all Chinese journalists not to take supportive stances towards Japan.

Journalists have been asked to not take supportive stance when writing about territorial and historical issues between the two countries.

According to the Japan Times, around 250,000 journalists who work for various Chinese media organizations have been ordered to attend the nationwide training program to learn about such topics as Marxist views on journalism, laws and regulations and norms in news-gathering and editing, in order to get their press accreditation renewed.

The unified program started in mid-October and will run through the end of this year.

It is believed to be the first time the Communist Party, which tightly controls the country's media industry, has carried out this kind of training programme before renewing press credentials.

After taking the program, Chinese journalists are required to pass an exam, seen taking place between January and February, to obtain press cards, the report added.