BEIJING: China will retaliate if all Chinese journalists based in the United States are forced to leave the country, Chinese state media Global Times' Editor in Chief Hu Xijin said on Tuesday.
"Given that the US side hasn't renewed visas of Chinese journalists, the Chinese side has prepared for the worst scenario that all Chinese journalists have to leave the US. If that's the case, the Chinese side will retaliate, including targeting US journalists based in Hong Kong," Hu tweeted.
In May, the US limited the length of work visas for journalists from mainland China employed by non-US media will be reduced to a maximum of 90 days.
The two countries are involved in tit-for-tat media feud amid deteriorating relations over a variety of issues.
In March, China has announced that it was revoking press credentials of US journalists working with the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post in what Beijing said was "reciprocal countermeasures" in response to the "oppression" of Chinese media organisations in the US.