China opposes 'media warfare' with US on new journalist-visa limits

China has pushed back against Washington’s proposed new visa limits on Chinese journalists in the US, one of many sour points in relations even as a fragile trade truce appears to be holding.

 

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington, called the proposal a “discriminatory step,” noting the 90-day limit for Chinese journalists compared to 240 days for others.

 

“China has all along facilitated lawful reporting by foreign journalists, including those from the US,” Liu told reporters on Tuesday local time in Washington. “We do not want to see a new round of ‘media warfare’ between the two countries and urge the US to refrain from taking this erroneous move.”

 

His comments follow a proposal by the Trump administration last month to impose stricter visa limits on Chinese media workers as part of a broader push to curtail stays by foreign reporters and students. Liu’s remarks were earlier reported by the South China Morning Post.

 

The new rule, detailed in a Department of Homeland Security proposal, would limit visas for mainland Chinese journalists to 90 days, with the possibility of an extension. Journalists from other countries would face a 240-day limit, scrapping the current policy that allows them to stay as long as their assignment lasts. 

 

US officials have long argued that they allow far more Chinese reporters into the US than the Chinese government allows American journalists. The latest proposal fits into Trump’s broader immigration crackdown, which has seen the administration step up visa revocations, ban citizens from several countries from entering the US and expel thousands of undocumented migrants.