The Buzz | China demands info from four media companies in response to US

China has demanded staff and business information from four U.S. media companies including The Associated Press in what it called a necessary response to similar demands by Washington on Chinese state-controlled news outlets.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian announced earlier this week that the AP, United Press International, CBS and National Public Radio had seven days to file declarations regarding their staff, financial operations, real estate ownership and other matters.
“It should be pointed out that the above-mentioned measures by China are completely necessary countermeasures and are completely legitimate defenses compelled by unreasonable suppression of the U.S. side on Chinese media agencies in the United States,” Zhao said at a daily briefing.
The Trump administration last month added four Chinese media outlets to a list of organizations that should be considered “foreign missions” because of their ties to the government and the ruling Communist Party. That move could force them to cut staff in the U.S. and adds to a long list of frictions in economic and political relations between the two countries.