Beijing revokes work permits for Chinese assistants working for US media organisations

Asked about revoking the permits, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Thursday that the relevant authorities would manage Chinese nationals working for foreign media “in accordance with laws and regulations”. He did not elaborate.

The move came after Beijing announced the expulsion of American journalists from three major US newspapers, in an intensifying diplomatic dispute between the countries.

Sources familiar with the matter said that two Chinese news assistants at The New York Times and one at The Wall Street Journal were told by the Beijing Service Bureau for Diplomatic Missions on Wednesday that their work permits had been revoked. The permit of a fourth Chinese news assistant, at US broadcaster Voice of America, was also revoked on Wednesday, a source said.

The bureau, which is affiliated to the foreign ministry, did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment and did not answer calls to its landlines.

While Chinese nationals are not allowed to work as reporters for foreign media organisations, they can work as researchers, and as Chinese-language assistants and secretaries, subject to being granted the relevant paperwork by the bureau.

Although much of their work is akin to that of a reporter, they are seldom given bylines on stories because of the political sensitivity of the issue and tend to face greater scrutiny from the authorities.