The All-China Journalists Association (ACJA) voiced strong condemnation and opposition Friday over the U.S.' move to limit the number of Chinese citizens who work for Chinese state media in the U.S.

The response came after Monday's announcement by the U.S. State Department to cap the number of personnel who work for any of the five Chinese state media outlets, including CGTN America and CRI, with presence in the U.S.

ACJA issued a statement and denounced the unjustified restriction, urging the U.S. to stop interfering in the operations of Chinese media in the U.S. in a rude way.

These actions by the U.S have seriously violated the normal and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese journalists in overseas news reporting, have seriously damaged the reputation of Chinese media and Chinese journalists, and have seriously interfered with the normal overseas operations of Chinese media organizations and the normal overseas work of Chinese journalists, the statement pointed out. 

This exposed the hypocrisy of the so-called "freedom of the press" on the part of the United States and was a blatant "double standard" and hegemonic bullying, read the statement.

The media is an important channel for people of all countries to enhance communication and understanding. For a long time, Chinese media organizations and journalists stationed in the United States have strictly complied with the laws and regulations of the United States and carried out news reports in an objective, fair, true, and accurate manner.

China has respected and ensured that the media of other countries carry out normal reporting activities in China in accordance with the law. No restrictions have been placed on the number of U.S. media organizations and personnel in China, pointed out the statement.

ACJA solemnly urged the U.S to abandon its cold war thinking and political crackdown based on ideological bias, to immediately stop discriminatory restrictions on Chinese media in the United States, to immediately stop the rough interference in the normal operation of the Chinese media in America, to immediately stop the unreasonable infringement of the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese journalists.

Journalists' rights in news reporting shall not be infringed upon, read the statement.

The statement said the All-China Journalists Association will continue to provide convenience for foreign media personnel to carry out their normal work in China in accordance with the law and encourage their media to play a positive role in promoting international exchanges and cooperation and building a community with a shared future for mankind.