On the latest episode of The President’s Inbox, Jim sat down with Jane Perlez, a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center and longtime foreign correspondent for the New York Times, to discuss the decline of foreign reporting from Beijing and its consequences for U.S.-China relations.   

Here are three highlights from their conversation: 

1) The presence of foreign journalists in China has declined dramatically over the decades. During the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, hundreds of American journalists and support staff reported from Beijing. Today, only twenty American journalists do. The Wall Street Journal and New York Times have just three and two reporters on the ground.  The Washington Post has none. Jane, who left Beijing as the NYT station chief in 2019, said “It’s obviously way too few journalists for covering America’s most important strategic rival.” While the number had been falling slowly for a while, the expulsion of suspect Chinese journalists from the United States by the Trump administration in 2020 led to retaliatory expulsions of foreign reporters from China. Moreover, unlike past decades, when journalists could “parachute in” for short-term assignments, sending even a single journalist requires lengthy negotiations with the Chinese government.   

2) Heightened surveillance and restrictions are forcing journalists to adapt and use new methods. China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) tracks the movement of foreign journalists and limits their ability to travel to different parts of the country, especially the interior. Chinese news assistants are required to report their activities to authorities. Finding confidential sources willing to speak, even off the record, often entails dodging MSS agents. In response, news organizations have turned to innovative methods, such as wiring a Shanghai delivery worker with a camera to track her day and investigate the informal labor market. Social media and encrypted messaging apps also help reporters track public sentiment and policy developments. As Jane noted, “If we are not allowed to be on the ground, at least technology is enabling us to get a better picture.” However, these adaptations cannot fully replace on-the-ground journalism, which provides important human insights into China’s rapidly shifting economic and political landscape. 

3) The lack of comprehensive reporting from China increases the risk of confrontation between the two superpowers. Limited journalistic access exacerbates misunderstandings and reduces public awareness of developments in U.S.-China relations. For example, Americans have few if any insights into China’s growing nuclear arsenal or Chinese public opinion about flashpoints like Taiwan or the South China Sea. Americans and Chinese citizens, then, have almost no opportunity to understand each other’s perspectives. It has also led to a growing divide between U.S. policymakers and the American public over Chinese relations, with only 8 percent willing to support deploying troops to defend Taiwan. Historical incidents, such as the 2001 U.S. spy plane collision over Hainan that was resolved diplomatically, illustrate how crises today could escalate dangerously. Jane warned: “I don’t think conflict with China is inevitable, but it will take a lot of diplomacy and hard work to lower the tensions.”  

If you’re looking to learn more from Jane, check out her podcast Face Off: The U.S. vs China and her latest article for Foreign Affairs, “When American and China Collided: Why the Countries are Dangerously Unprepared for a Repeat of the 2001 Crisis.”