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US President Donald Trump’s administration has announced that it is designating four more Chinese state-run media organizations that have operations in the United States as foreign missions. It is a new round of restrictions likely to lead to some form of retaliation from China. The officials of the US State Department said they were taking the action to make it clear to American citizens that the organizations are viewed by the US government as propaganda organs for a foreign government. The groups will be asked to send to the department a complete roster of employees in the United States and a list of their real estate holdings. The assistant secretary for East Asia and the Pacific, David R Stilwell refused to say in a telephone briefing with reporters about the actions the United States.

The recent move is part of broader efforts by some officials of Trump administration to counter aggressive policies by China. However, a new book by John Bolton says Donald Trump himself has undermined the campaign at times and has pleaded with Xi Jinping to help ensure his re-election. Trump administration imposed visa quotas on the 5 organizations that it had labeled functionaries of a foreign government in February. Point to be noted that the Chinese government then expelled American journalists for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. That action resulted in the departures of about 13 journalists from China.

Moreover, 4 organizations designated on Monday are China Central Television, China News Service, People’s Daily, and Global Times. Stilwell said these entities are not independent news organizations substantially owned or effectively controlled by the Chinese Communist Party or the Chinese government. It is noteworthy that China Central Television is the main state-run television network in China. Its main overseas arm, China Global Television Network, or CGTN was listed in the first round of designations in February. People’s Daily is the main Communist Party newspaper. The US State Department named a related company, Hai Tian Development USA, which distributes the newspaper in the United States.