Tom Freidman: "After ALL we've done for you!"
China instructed American journalists "whose press credentials are due to expire before the end of 2020" to "notify the Department of Information of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs within four calendar days starting from today and hand back their press cards within ten calendar days."
It went on to specify that the American journalists now working in China "will not be allowed to continue working as journalists in the People’s Republic of China, including its Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions."
So is this a response to China’s frustration over being blamed for the coronavirus outbreak? The Times points out this back and forth has been building for several weeks and coronavirus was definitely part of it: