BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Facing typical press bullying from the United States, China has voiced resolute opposition and has to fight back.

China on Wednesday announced countermeasures against U.S. restrictive measures on Chinese media agencies in the United States. It was a reciprocal, necessary, legitimate and justified move.

Despite China's repeated opposition, the U.S. side decided to cap the number of Chinese employees of Chinese media outlets in the United States, a de facto expulsion, after launching a slew of restrictive measures against Chinese media.

At a crucial time when the global fight against COVID-19 is still intense, the U.S. government is squandering precious time to combat the virus at home, and is busy finding fault with China, escalating oppression of Chinese media and impeding the free flow of information. Such acts underline its image of press bullying and are detrimental to global coordination to stop the spread of the virus.

It is an internationally recognized principle to let media play its role in promoting international cooperation and provide convenience to media outlets for their reporting.

But the U.S. side, driven by a Cold War mentality and ideological bias, turned a blind eye to this well-accepted practice and restricted Chinese media from carrying out normal operations in the United States, obstructing the free flow of information and undermining press freedom.

Moreover, some U.S. politicians and media executives continued to make a false countercharge by smearing China's countermeasures. Such responses fail to address the problems, highlighting the United States' fondness for shifting blame to others to cover up its ill intent and mistakes.

It is the U.S. side who has initiated the row, and it is only natural for China to react and defend itself. The United States will only shoot itself in the foot.

Despite these smears and attacks, Chinese news organizations will continue to stick to the ethics of journalism and follow the principles of truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity and impartiality.

The United States should refocus its efforts on fighting COVID-19 alongside the international community, rather than restrict Chinese media outlets and spread disinformation. Enditem

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