China Expels Three WSJ Journalists, Claims It’s Over ‘Sick Man of Asia’ Opinion Piece

China just expelled three journalists from the Wall Street Journal.

The government is claiming the reason they did so is because of an opinion piece the paper ran earlier this month with the headline “China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia.”

Per the Journal, Deputy Bureau Chief Josh Chin and reporters Chao Deng and Philip Wen all had their press credentials revoked by China and given days to leave the country over apparent “widespread public anger” about that opinion piece.

Walter Russell Mead wrote for the WSJ opinion section about potential short- and long-term implications of coronavirus and how China has tried to stop an epidemic.

The “sick man of Asia” headline spurred outrage in China, including from the Foreign Ministry:

The ministry and state-media outlets had repeatedly called attention to the headline in statements and posts on social media and had threatened unspecified consequences.

“Regrettably, what the WSJ has done so far is nothing but parrying and dodging its responsibility,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in a daily news briefing Wednesday. “The Chinese people do not welcome those media that speak racially discriminatory language and maliciously slander and attack China.”

A memo to staff sent out by WSJ EIC Matt Murray — obtained by CNN — defends the three expelled reporters and says, “Even now, Chao is in Wuhan, exposing herself to potential illness, to tell stories about the coronavirus. This is what journalists do: run toward the danger.”