Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned China in opposition to interfering with the work of U.S. journalists in Hong Kong, and mentioned actions impinging on freedoms there may injury diplomatic relations.

“These journalists are members of a free press, not propaganda cadres, and their beneficial reporting informs Chinese language residents and the world,” Pompeo mentioned an announcement.

Pompeo mentioned with out providing particulars that “it has just lately come to my consideration that the Chinese language authorities has threatened to intrude with the work of American journalists in Hong Kong.”

The U.S. and China are escalating disputes throughout a number of fronts, together with commerce and duty for the coronavirus pandemic. The circulate of data has been a supply of competition, with dozens of journalists expelled from each international locations in current months. Beijing warned of further retaliation final week after the U.S. decreased work visas for Chinese language media employees to 90 days.

Professional-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong have resumed just lately, as protesters hope to regain momentum with the coronavirus displaying indicators of subsiding within the monetary hub. Beijing is rising more and more assertive over its position in Hong Kong, seeking to tighten its supervision over politics forward of elections for the town’s Legislative Council in September.

“Any choice impinging on Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedoms, as assured beneath the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Primary Regulation, would inevitably affect our evaluation of One Nation, Two Methods and the standing of the territory,” Pompeo mentioned.