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| - China is threatening to strip journalists of their visas as a weapon to intimidate foreign media "like never before", a press group said Monday, following the expulsion of three reporters last month. In its annual report, the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China (FCCC) said it also feared Beijing was preparing to kick out more reporters, after two journalists were this year given working visas for only a month. Press credentials valid for half a year or less were issued to at least 12 correspondents -- more than double the number the previous year, in what the FCCC called a record. Resident journalist visas, which are mandatory for all foreign media based in mainland China, are typically issued for one year. "Chinese authorities are using visas as weapons against the foreign press like never before," the report warned, flagging a "continued decline in reporting conditions". Since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2013, China has forced out nine foreign journalists, either through outright expulsion or by non-renewal of visas, the FCCC said. The report also found that 82 percent of journalists surveyed said they had experienced interference, harassment or violence while reporting in China over the past year. The number of correspondents saying they faced difficulty renewing their credentials was nearly double the figure last year, and almost all believed this was related to their reporting. When asked about the press group's report, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular briefing Monday that China has "never recognised the organisation". He added that the country "always welcomes foreign media to report on China in a comprehensive and objective way". In late February, Beijing ordered three reporters from The Wall Street Journal to leave the country over what it deemed a racist headline in an opinion piece they were not involved in writing. Deputy bureau chief Josh Chin and reporter Chao Deng, both US nationals, as well as reporter Philip Wen, an Australian, were given five days to leave. They previously reported on China's far-western Xinjiang region, covering allegations of forced labour, surveillance and re-education camps. Zhao told the media on Monday The Wall Street Journal reporters' expulsions were a "one-off case", adding that the 600 or so foreign journalists in China need not worry about doing their jobs "as long as they respect China's laws and conduct their reporting in accordance with laws and regulations". Last August, China refused to renew the press credentials of Wall Street Journal correspondent Chun Han Wong after he and Wen wrote an article on one of Xi's cousins. The press group warned that "hostility toward foreign press is now so pervasive that the most basic elements of journalism are often frustrated in China". tjx-bys/rox/axn
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