The Trump administration on Thursday announced it would shorten visa durations for Chinese journalists, prompting Beijing to threaten reciprocal measures.
A new Department of Homeland Security rule will replace the long-standing “duration of status” system with fixed-term stays, limiting visas for foreign journalists to 240 days and only 90 days for Chinese journalists. The rule will take effect 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register.
The change quickly drew criticism from the Chinese government.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian called on the United States to reverse what he described as “discriminatory policies” targeting Chinese journalists.
“China urges the U.S. to immediately revoke its discriminatory policies targeting Chinese journalists and effectively safeguard their lawful rights and interests in the U.S.,” Lin said at a daily briefing in Beijing. “China reserves the right to take reciprocal countermeasures.”
The measure also generated backlash from organizations dedicated to press freedom.
“We are outraged that the Trump administration has cruelly limited the duration of visas for foreign journalists from a period of up to five years to a fixed eight months,” Reporters Without Borders said in a statement. “This change destroys international journalists’ ability to report from the U.S. and makes it extremely difficult for international outlets to operate here at all.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists said the new visa policy was “the behavior of a backsliding democracy, not the international vanguard of free speech.”
The move revives a policy fight that began during President Donald Trump’s first term. In 2020, the administration moved to restrict Chinese journalist visas as tensions with Beijing escalated, including China’s expulsion of journalists from three U.S. news organizations and restrictions on American reporters operating in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Biden administration later eased those restrictions, allowing Chinese journalists to remain in the U.S. for up to a year.
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The Trump administration’s latest rule also restores broader concerns over the previous “duration of status” system, which DHS officials argued created national security risks.
“The outdated ‘duration of status’ system has compromised national security and created an environment ripe for immigration fraud,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement.