(Photo : Reuters/Jason Lee)

The Chinese government announced Wednesday that it is revoking press credentials of three Wall Street Journal reporters based in Beijing.

The Chinese Government revoked the press credentials of three reporters for the Wall Street Journal as punishment for an opinion piece published by the Journal.

It is the largest expulsion of overseas media from the country after re-engaging with the world in the post-Mao era.

Deputy Bureau Chief Josh Chin, reporter Chao Deng, and reporter Philip Wen were ordered to leave within five days.

The headline on a February 3 opinion piece "The Real Sick Man of Asia" drew a wave of widespread public anger. 

The phrase "Sick Man of Asia" was used to describe the country's weakened state more than a century ago when it was suffering internal divisions. Chinese history textbooks described this period as the "century of humiliation."

Geng Shuang, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, said the op-ed "smears the efforts of the Chinese government and people fighting the virus epidemic."

"The Chinese people do not welcome those media that speak racially discriminatory language and maliciously slander and attack China," he added.

Geng Shuang claims the expulsion was a result of the Journal's refusal to issue an official apology and holding the persons involved accountable.

The three journalists worked for the Journal's news operation which has a strict separation to its opinion staff.

William Lewis, the Journal's publisher and chief executive of Dow Jones, its parent company, said the expelled journalists had no involvement with the piece which was "published independently from the WSJ newsroom."

The Journal's US editor-in-chief Matt Murray called the move "harsh and unprecedented."

Murray said they would push for the action to be reversed and will continue to write about China. 

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also described the expulsion saying, "Mature, responsible countries understand that a free press reports facts and expresses opinions. The correct response is to present counter-arguments, not restrict speech."

Last year, China expelled Beijing-based, Singaporean Journal reporter Chun Han Wong when he and another Journal reporter wrote a story about the alleged links of Xi's cousin to high-stakes gambling, money laundering, and organized crime. 

Wong was the sixth journalist to be expelled by the Chinese government since 2013. 

China has been refusing to issue or renew credentials for foreign journalists in recent years. Numerous foreign journalists were given short-term visas instead of the standard one-year visa.

China is currently battling coronavirus virus. It is also battling questions from the country's citizens and global health experts who criticized Beijing's handling of the epidemic.

A lack of transparency surrounding the virus has resulted in an outburst of anger from the public.

The Committee to Protect Journalist's Asia program coordinator said limiting the flow of news and information during a global health emergency is counterproductive for the Chinese government. He is also calling on the Chinese authorities to restore the press credentials of the Journal reporters. 

China's government has been exerting greater control over information and reasserting its influence over citizens' lives. China has also imposed stricter censorship on news outlets and social media sites it deems objectionable.