China expelled three accredited Wall Street Journal reporters on Wednesday. The Trump administration should respond by expelling a senior Chinese Embassy official in D.C.
The objective here should be twofold. First, it would show China that its actions will have consequences. Second, it would shine an international light on China’s effort to restrict press freedom. Both objectives would fit with the broader need to show a positive contrast between the U.S. system of government and that of China.
Beijing is infuriated by what it called a racist Walter Russell Mead column earlier this month, “China is the real sick man of Asia.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang affirmed on Wednesday that China has repeatedly issued the “demand that [the Wall Street Journal] recognize the severity of its mistake, make an official apology publicly, and hold the persons involved accountable.” But, Geng continued, the Wall Street Journal has been doing “nothing but fudging the issue and dodging its responsibility. It has neither issued an official apology nor done anything on accountability.”
China said this is why the expulsions are necessary. And, again hinting at cyber retaliation, Geng warned, “We reserve the right to take further actions.”
This is totally unacceptable.
China wants to intimidate other journalists so that they will avoid criticism of the Chinese Communist Party. In short, this is about destroying access to information and commentary at the altar of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s autocracy. It must not stand.
So, whom should the United States expel in response? Expulsion of the ambassador himself would risk starting a tit for tat diplomatic war just as the U.S.-China trade situation seems to be improving. A better option would be to expel Li Kexin, the Chinese deputy chief of mission in D.C. A longtime foreign service officer with particular experience at international conferences, Li manages the embassy’s daily operation. Sending Li home would thus signal Washington’s displeasure to Beijing while also ensuring that the international media recognized America’s resolve to stand up for media freedom.
Albeit inadvertently, Geng himself explained why that stand for freedom is so important. His response to the very next question he was asked on Wednesday involved an insane claim that the party’s concentration camps in Xinjiang province are “supported by the 25 million people of various ethnic groups in Xinjiang and commended by Muslim countries and the wider international community.”
This an absolute inversion of the truth but far from its inaugural outing. Still, offered from the heart of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, it speaks to a regime that has an absolute interest in deception and believes that it can get away with it.
We should make that effort as complicated as possible.
