Washington sources reported that trump administration's decision to effectively expel much of China’s state-run media staff is the clearest sign yet of a fundamental shift in how Washington manages its relationship with Beijing. Starting march 13, four Chinese media companies will be allowed to employ a combined 100 Chinese citizens, a 40% cut from current levels, State Department officials told reporters Monday.
The move casts aside long-held arguments that the US could steer the Communist party in a more liberal direction by setting an example on human rights issues, such as freedom of the press. Instead, the trump administration has expanded its demands for reciprocity to cover a host of other facets of the relationship after reaching a preliminary trade deal with china in January.
Support for a more confrontational position toward china has been building over the past decade as beijing increasingly challenged US leadership on everything from the security of the south china sea to global rule-making to human rights. The more assertive policies of Chinese President Xi jinping and the open hostility of Trump’s trade war have only lit a fire under that process. china rejected that assertion tuesday, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian saying the country has never limited the number of US media agencies. Zhao condemned the decision, which he said shows how hypocritical the US is while boasting of freedom of the press.
