# China

Government actions against journalists in China

[RSF 2026 rank: 178th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index). World Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders (RSF); rank 1 is the freest.

The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.

China is in Eastern Asia, Asia. The record holds 2 incidents in which the government of China, or an official, court or legislature there, limited journalists' ability to report.

## Tactics used

- [Expulsion and visa denial: 2](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?country=CN&tactic=expulsion_and_visa_denial), ladder: https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/expulsion_and_visa_denial
- [Access bans: 1](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?country=CN&tactic=access_ban), ladder: https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/access_ban
- [Credential control: 1](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?country=CN&tactic=credential_control), ladder: https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/credential_control

## Heads of government at the time

- [Li Peng: 1 incident](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/li-peng)
- [Xi Jinping: 1 incident](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/xi-jinping)

## Incidents by year

### 2020

| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| March 17, 2020 | [China expels American journalists from three major U.S. newspapers](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-china-expels-us-newspaper-journalists) | [Expulsion and visa denial](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/expulsion_and_visa_denial) | Punish | [Xi Jinping](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/xi-jinping) | Sustained |

### 1989

| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| June 14, 1989 | [China expels foreign journalists and restricts coverage of the Tiananmen Square protests](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1989-china-tiananmen-foreign-journalists-expelled) | [Expulsion and visa denial](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/expulsion_and_visa_denial) | Punish | [Li Peng](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/li-peng) | Sustained (January 1, 1990) |

Ladders: https://thewaronnews.com/ladders. Timeline: https://thewaronnews.com/timeline/country/cn.

Download incidents in China. CSV, JSON or Markdown. CC BY 4.0; credit "The War On News, thewaronnews.com".
- CSV: https://thewaronnews.com/countries/cn?format=csv
- JSON: https://thewaronnews.com/countries/cn.json
- Markdown: https://thewaronnews.com/countries/cn.md

Source page: https://thewaronnews.com/countries/cn. The War On News, CC BY 4.0.