The Chinese Foreign Ministry has summoned the chiefs of the Beijing bureaus of three U.S. newspapers and lodged solemn representations and strong protests against an open letter jointly written by them to the Chinese government over Beijing's decision to expel a number of their journalists.

The ministry said the letter should be addressed to the U.S. government instead.

The Washington Post, The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have written an open letter to the Chinese government, appealing to Beijing to reverse its decision to expel 13 of their journalists.

In a response posted on its website, the Foreign Ministry reviewed Washington's escalating political crackdown and questioned its so-called "freedom of press," noting that some journalists did not report China's epidemic efforts "comprehensively, accurately and objectively to the world."

During a press conference on March 24, Spokesperson Geng Shuang also recounted a list of discriminating actions that Washington has taken to expel 60 Chinese journalists from the U.S. since December 2018.

"Why didn't the three publishers criticize the U.S. government for its restrictions and crackdown on Chinese journalists?" asked the letter.

"Note to the Wall Street Journal: you still owe the Chinese people an apology!" the letter noted, adding that China always welcomes foreign journalists to report in China in accordance with laws and regulations, but firmly opposes fabricated and fake news.

On March 17, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced retaliatory measures against the U.S. government's designation of five Chinese media outlets as "foreign missions."  

The measures include the expulsion of American journalists working for the three newspapers, specifying that all correspondents whose press credentials were due to expire in 2020 would need to leave the country within a given period, and restricting them from conducting any future work in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macao Special Administrative Region.  

The Foreign Ministry said the measures were defensive and taken to defend China's own interests.