'Ousting U.S. Reporters, China Signals Confidence in Its Own Message' diff viewer (1/2)

This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on March 18, 2020 17:42 (UTC). It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/business/china-media-reporters-eject.html

The article has changed 12 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Previous version 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next version

Previous version 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next version

Version 1	Version 2
Ousting U.S. Reporters, China Signals Confidence in Its Own Message	Ousting U.S. Reporters, China Signals Confidence in Its Own Message
2020-03-18 18:52:16 UTC	2020-06-15 07:26:28 UTC (3 months later)
When China wanted to broadcast that it was ready to open to the world, Deng Xiaoping, then its paramount leader, told the Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci that Mao Zedong’s portrait would hang over Tiananmen Square forever — and that Beijing would welcome some elements of capitalism.	When China wanted to broadcast that it was ready to open to the world, Deng Xiaoping, then its paramount leader, told the Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci that Mao Zedong’s portrait would hang over Tiananmen Square forever — and that Beijing would welcome some elements of capitalism.
When China wanted to join the World Trade Organization, Jiang Zemin, one of Deng’s successors, quoted the Gettysburg Address on “60 Minutes” and joined Mike Wallace for a few bars of “O Sole Mio.”	When China wanted to join the World Trade Organization, Jiang Zemin, one of Deng’s successors, quoted the Gettysburg Address on “60 Minutes” and joined Mike Wallace for a few bars of “O Sole Mio.”
When Beijing wanted to send a message in 2001 about official accountability over the deaths of three dozen schoolchildren who had been illegally working in a fireworks factory, Zhu Rongji, the country’s economic czar, answered a question about the episode at a nationally televised news conference with the foreign media.	When Beijing wanted to send a message in 2001 about official accountability over the deaths of three dozen schoolchildren who had been illegally working in a fireworks factory, Zhu Rongji, the country’s economic czar, answered a question about the episode at a nationally televised news conference with the foreign media.
China has long had a fraught relationship with foreign reporters. The government censors international media outlets and frequently harasses journalists. Yet it has long recognized that the Western media fulfills an essential need. It can convey messages to the world, and sometimes to the Chinese public, more clearly and bluntly than local media. It also offers an unflinching window into what is happening in China, a country where even the leadership doesn’t always trust the information it gets.	China has long had a fraught relationship with foreign reporters. The government censors international media outlets and frequently harasses journalists. Yet it has long recognized that the Western media fulfills an essential need. It can convey messages to the world, and sometimes to the Chinese public, more clearly and bluntly than local media. It also offers an unflinching window into what is happening in China, a country where even the leadership doesn’t always trust the information it gets.
On Tuesday, that understanding broke down in dramatic fashion.	On Tuesday, that understanding broke down in dramatic fashion.
The Chinese government said it would oust mainland-based American reporters working for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. The order, which a journalists’ association said would affect more than a dozen reporters, was the Chinese Communist Party’s harshest attack on the foreign media in the modern era.	The Chinese government said it would oust mainland-based American reporters working for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. The order, which a journalists’ association said would affect more than a dozen reporters, was the Chinese Communist Party’s harshest attack on the foreign media in the modern era.
A diplomatic spat with the United States, which had slashed the number of visas it would grant to employees of Chinese state media outlets, was the principal reason. Still, the expulsions also serve as a sharp signal that Beijing feels it no longer needs the foreign media to reach the world.	A diplomatic spat with the United States, which had slashed the number of visas it would grant to employees of Chinese state media outlets, was the principal reason. Still, the expulsions also serve as a sharp signal that Beijing feels it no longer needs the foreign media to reach the world.
The Communist Party has honed its domestic propaganda machine into an effective tool for the digital age. Its state-run media organs have built broadcast operations in the United States and around the world. On Twitter and other international platforms, its diplomats and state media relentlessly attack critics.	The Communist Party has honed its domestic propaganda machine into an effective tool for the digital age. Its state-run media organs have built broadcast operations in the United States and around the world. On Twitter and other international platforms, its diplomats and state media relentlessly attack critics.
Like President Trump in the United States, populist leaders around world, including Beijing, have learned to use Twitter and other social media to bypass the traditional mainstream media and serve up their own messages on their own terms.	Like President Trump in the United States, populist leaders around world, including Beijing, have learned to use Twitter and other social media to bypass the traditional mainstream media and serve up their own messages on their own terms.
“Suspect that they had long waited for such an excuse to drive out these unwelcome elements of ‘peaceful evolution,’” Yinan He, a professor at Lehigh University, posted on Twitter, citing a term used in China that refers to a Western conspiracy to transform the country into a democracy — a shift that the government says would inevitably lead to chaos.	“Suspect that they had long waited for such an excuse to drive out these unwelcome elements of ‘peaceful evolution,’” Yinan He, a professor at Lehigh University, posted on Twitter, citing a term used in China that refers to a Western conspiracy to transform the country into a democracy — a shift that the government says would inevitably lead to chaos.
But China puts itself at risk by silencing outside voices. The expulsions signal that Beijing has accelerated its steps to further decouple from the United States politically, to silence dissent and to close itself off to the outside world — in other words, walking back the steps the country has taken over the decades to make itself a more open and prosperous society.	But China puts itself at risk by silencing outside voices. The expulsions signal that Beijing has accelerated its steps to further decouple from the United States politically, to silence dissent and to close itself off to the outside world — in other words, walking back the steps the country has taken over the decades to make itself a more open and prosperous society.
China needs voices inside and outside the country to point out problems. State media now argues that China has, within its own borders, tamed the coronavirus outbreak that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan and now threatens the world economy. But Chinese officials silenced those who tried to warn the country and the world about the outbreak, to disastrous results.	China needs voices inside and outside the country to point out problems. State media now argues that China has, within its own borders, tamed the coronavirus outbreak that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan and now threatens the world economy. But Chinese officials silenced those who tried to warn the country and the world about the outbreak, to disastrous results.
The Communist Party has a long history of opening up to the Western media when it needs to win over the outside world, and of becoming more hostile when it wants to close off the country.	The Communist Party has a long history of opening up to the Western media when it needs to win over the outside world, and of becoming more hostile when it wants to close off the country.
Mao famously courted Edgar Snow and other Western journalists when the Communists fought a civil war for control of the country. Coverage from mainstream Western media outlets in the World War II era helped shift public opinion about the party both inside and outside the country.	Mao famously courted Edgar Snow and other Western journalists when the Communists fought a civil war for control of the country. Coverage from mainstream Western media outlets in the World War II era helped shift public opinion about the party both inside and outside the country.
After the Communist Party took power in 1949, it cut ties with the West, expelled foreign journalists and jailed Chinese people who had worked for foreign media outlets. When it decided to open up to the world again in the 1980s, it welcomed back The Times and others.	After the Communist Party took power in 1949, it cut ties with the West, expelled foreign journalists and jailed Chinese people who had worked for foreign media outlets. When it decided to open up to the world again in the 1980s, it welcomed back The Times and others.
There have been many ups and downs in Beijing’s relationship with the Western media since. Under Mr. Jiang and Mr. Zhu, China charmed the global media to portray the country as an open economy worthy of joining the W.T.O., the global club of major trading countries.	There have been many ups and downs in Beijing’s relationship with the Western media since. Under Mr. Jiang and Mr. Zhu, China charmed the global media to portray the country as an open economy worthy of joining the W.T.O., the global club of major trading countries.
Two months before the W.T.O. decided on China’s membership, Mr. Jiang told The Times’s publisher and editors in Beijing that he hoped the Western world could understand China better. When asked why the Times website was blocked in China, he answered: “If you ask my view of The New York Times, my answer is it is a very good paper.”	Two months before the W.T.O. decided on China’s membership, Mr. Jiang told The Times’s publisher and editors in Beijing that he hoped the Western world could understand China better. When asked why the Times website was blocked in China, he answered: “If you ask my view of The New York Times, my answer is it is a very good paper.”
In the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the event China considered its coming-out party as a global power, the government eased restrictions on foreign journalists covering the country.	In the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the event China considered its coming-out party as a global power, the government eased restrictions on foreign journalists covering the country.
But China was never an easy place to cover. After the 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen Square protesters, Beijing expelled some foreign journalists.	But China was never an easy place to cover. After the 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen Square protesters, Beijing expelled some foreign journalists.
China correspondents faced constant intimidation. Matthew Pottinger, a former Wall Street Journal correspondent in China and now the hawkish deputy national security adviser to Mr. Trump, wrote about being arrested and forced to flush his notes down a toilet. He wrote about being punched in the face in a Beijing Starbucks “by a government goon who was trying to keep me from investigating a Chinese company’s sale of nuclear fuel to other countries.”	China correspondents faced constant intimidation. Matthew Pottinger, a former Wall Street Journal correspondent in China and now the hawkish deputy national security adviser to Mr. Trump, wrote about being arrested and forced to flush his notes down a toilet. He wrote about being punched in the face in a Beijing Starbucks “by a government goon who was trying to keep me from investigating a Chinese company’s sale of nuclear fuel to other countries.”
The situation deteriorated after Xi Jinping came to power in late 2012. Mr. Xi demanded unstinting loyalty to the Communist Party from the Chinese news media and instructed them to enhance China’s ability to shape its own narrative in the world.	The situation deteriorated after Xi Jinping came to power in late 2012. Mr. Xi demanded unstinting loyalty to the Communist Party from the Chinese news media and instructed them to enhance China’s ability to shape its own narrative in the world.
Always viewing the foreign media with suspicion, the Chinese government has intensified its hostile tactics against Western journalists. My colleague Paul Mozur wrote about how he was followed, tracked and stopped from covering what was happening to the Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang, a prevalent reporting experience in the region.	Always viewing the foreign media with suspicion, the Chinese government has intensified its hostile tactics against Western journalists. My colleague Paul Mozur wrote about how he was followed, tracked and stopped from covering what was happening to the Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang, a prevalent reporting experience in the region.
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China said that before the decision on Tuesday, Beijing had expelled nine foreign journalists since 2013. Since the beginning of 2019, at least 13 correspondents have been given truncated-term visas valid for six months or less. Since the beginning of 2020, three of those correspondents have been given one-month visas.	The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China said that before the decision on Tuesday, Beijing had expelled nine foreign journalists since 2013. Since the beginning of 2019, at least 13 correspondents have been given truncated-term visas valid for six months or less. Since the beginning of 2020, three of those correspondents have been given one-month visas.
	Updated June 12, 2020
	Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.
	So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement.
	A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.
	The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.
	Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission.
	Exercise researchers and physicians have some blunt advice for those of us aiming to return to regular exercise now: Start slowly and then rev up your workouts, also slowly. American adults tended to be about 12 percent less active after the stay-at-home mandates began in March than they were in January. But there are steps you can take to ease your way back into regular exercise safely. First, “start at no more than 50 percent of the exercise you were doing before Covid,” says Dr. Monica Rho, the chief of musculoskeletal medicine at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. Thread in some preparatory squats, too, she advises. “When you haven’t been exercising, you lose muscle mass.” Expect some muscle twinges after these preliminary, post-lockdown sessions, especially a day or two later. But sudden or increasing pain during exercise is a clarion call to stop and return home.
	States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’t being told to stay at home, it’s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.
	Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.
	If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)
	Taking one’s temperature to look for signs of fever is not as easy as it sounds, as “normal” temperature numbers can vary, but generally, keep an eye out for a temperature of 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. If you don’t have a thermometer (they can be pricey these days), there are other ways to figure out if you have a fever, or are at risk of Covid-19 complications.
	The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing.
	If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.
	If you’re sick and you think you’ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’s a chance — because of a lack of testing kits or because you’re asymptomatic, for instance — you won’t be able to get tested.
“By expelling journalists and keeping others in a state of visa uncertainty, China is overtly using its power in an attempt to influence overseas news coverage, by punishing those who publish information authorities see as unfavorable and wish to keep quiet,” the correspondents’ club said.	“By expelling journalists and keeping others in a state of visa uncertainty, China is overtly using its power in an attempt to influence overseas news coverage, by punishing those who publish information authorities see as unfavorable and wish to keep quiet,” the correspondents’ club said.