China blasts US for suppression of Chinese media

BEIJING, June 23 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday urged the United States to halt and correct wrongdoings that "harm others without benefiting itself" after Washington labelled four Chinese media outlets "foreign missions."

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a press briefing in response to a U.S. decision to designate four Chinese media outlets in the United States -- China Central Television, China News Service, People's Daily and Global Times -- as "foreign missions."

"The U.S. decision is another example of its political suppression of Chinese media," said Zhao, adding that this move will severely disrupt the reporting activities of the Chinese media outlets in United States and exposes U.S. hypocrisy over so-called freedoms of press and speech.

China strongly urges the United States to discard Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice, said Zhao, adding that otherwise, China will have to take necessary and legitimate countermeasures.