China said Wednesday that it revoked the press credentials of three Wall Street Journal reporters based in Beijing, reports Kevin Breuninger of CNBC.
Brueninger reports, “The three reporters — Deputy Bureau Chief Josh Chin and reporters Chao Deng and Philip Wen — work for the paper’s news division, which operates separately from its opinion department. Chin and Deng are U.S. nationals, while Wen is an Australian national, the Journal said.
“The harsh reaction from Beijing came as China struggles not only to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak, but also to control the messaging surrounding the virus that has killed thousands and raised fears that a global pandemic is near.
“The disease, which was first detected late last year in the city of Wuhan in China’s Hubei province, has already taken a toll on China’s business and manufacturing output. The impact of the disease has also spread to global markets, though stocks have fared better during the coronavirus outbreak than in other global medical emergencies.
“Dow Jones, the newspaper’s publisher, did not immediately respond to CNBC’s question about why its own report on China’s expulsion of its reporters does not display the name of the author who wrote it.”
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