China Revoked 3 Wall Street Journal Reporters’ Credentials Over An Opinion Headline.

China on Wednesday said it would revoke the credentials of three Wall Street Journal reporters working in mainland China, in a significant escalation of Beijing’s pressure on foreign news organizations.

A spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the move was in retaliation for a headline on a Feb. 3 opinion piece about the economic impact of the coronavirus, “China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia.”

“Sick man of Asia” was a derogatory characterization of China’s weaknesses in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when it suffered internal divisions and was exploited by foreign powers.

Chinese officials have “demanded that The Wall Street Journal recognize the seriousness of the error, openly and formally apologize, and investigate and punish those responsible,” Geng Shuang, the ministry spokesman, said in a transcript provided by the Chinese government.

The revocations come less than a day after American officials said they would treat representatives of five government-controlled Chinese news organizations — Xinhua, CGTN, China Radio, China Daily and People’s Daily — as foreign government functionaries, subject to rules similar to those applied to diplomats.

SOURCE: NEW YORK TIMES