The Chinese government imposed restrictive measures against five major US media outlets Wednesday. The impacted organizations include the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, TIME and Voice of America.

The announcement comes weeks after the US designated five Chinese media organizations as “foreign missions,” requiring registration with the US government. The US has defended the designation as appropriate, arguing that the Chinese media organizations are functionally controlled by the Chinese government.

In the statement released Wednesday, China announced that the aforementioned news outlets will need to provide operational materials to the government. Additionally, journalists at the organizations will need to return their press passes within 10 days. China expressed its motive for the measures, stating

The above-mentioned measures by the Chinese side are totally a necessary counter-reaction to the US side to unreasonably suppress the Chinese media agencies in the United States. … The U.S. approach to the Chinese media is based on Cold War thinking and ideological prejudice. It seriously damages the reputation and image of the Chinese media.

The restrictions take effect during the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak. Some have argued that China is hiding information about the severity of the public health crisis.

China stated that further action will be taken if the US continues to restrict Chinese media organizations.