Photo: Courtesy of China's Foreign Affairs Ministry

Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday blasted US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for defending the Wall Street Journal's wrongdoings, saying the Journal's racist headline defaming China is not about freedom of speech and the press, and that anyone with basic morality should oppose and object to such racist practices.

In response to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's statement that China's expulsion of three reporters from the Wall Street Journal exposed problems in China's dealing with COVID-19, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said even the Journal itself admitted its wrongdoing. 

So why does Mr. Pompeo, brushing off international opinion, keep on "cheering up" the Journal, which makes people wonder if the Wall Street Journal is a proxy of the US Department of State, Zhao said.

Zhao also asked why Pompeo, a person who keeps emphasizing freedom of speech, insulted reporters from National Public Radio and banned them from traveling with the secretary during his upcoming trip to Europe. "Is this the so-called freedom of the press which Mr. Pompeo advocates?" Zhao asked. 

We urge Mr. Pompeo to cast aside prejudice against different ideologies, Cold War mentality and zero-sum thinking, stop sabotaging cooperation between China and the US, and slandering China; and commit himself to tasks that suit his post as US Secretary of State, Zhao said. 

Commenting on the Journal's communication with China, Zhao said that the Wall Street Journal has been reaching out to China through different channels to admit it is wrong to publish the racist article "China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia," and vowed to draw lessons from the incident.

However, the WSJ failed to give a positive response to China's requests. China has urged the WSJ to make a formal apology.