A spokeswoman for Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, criticized Beijing for expelling a New York Times reporter from China in response to Mr. Lai’s appearance by video at a Times DealBook summit in New York in December.

The reporter, Vivian Wang, who was based in Beijing, was expelled in February. She was not involved in the DealBook conference, an annual event that features prominent executives and politicians. Chinese officials had complained for months about Ms. Wang’s reporting, which often addressed topics Beijing considered sensitive.

At the same time, China has sought to isolate Taiwan, a self-governed island that Beijing considers its territory, and largely regards any engagement with Taiwan’s leaders as a violation of Chinese sovereignty.

In a statement posted online on Sunday, the Taiwan president’s spokeswoman, Kuo Ya-hui, said China’s efforts to pressure media organizations not to engage with Mr. Lai was a threat to press freedom and the safety of journalists.

“China’s use of baseless pretexts and brutal methods to threaten the media and interfere with press freedom not only fails to improve its international image, but also highlights that China is currently a source of instability and a troublemaker,” Ms. Kuo said.

The expulsion of Ms. Wang, who had been a China correspondent for the paper since 2020, is the latest example of a crackdown by Beijing on foreign correspondents whose reporting challenges Beijing’s official line. The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China, in its latest annual report on the environment for international journalists in China, released in 2025, said: “Authorities apparently sought to influence reporting by restricting visas and access for reporters and news organizations whose coverage they disagreed with, threatening or launching lawsuits, and complaining to media headquarters about content.”

Ms. Wang’s reporting focused on the lives of ordinary Chinese people and the challenges they faced with censorship, Beijing’s unpopular response to the coronavirus pandemic and the steady expansion of China’s security state.

In a diplomatic tit-for-tat, the Trump administration revoked the visa of a U.S.-based journalist for the Chinese state news agency, Xinhua, which is widely regarded by experts as a propaganda organ. The Times played no role in the Chinese reporter’s expulsion, a spokesperson for the paper said last week.

Lin Jian, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said Beijing “firmly opposes” what he described as the Trump administration’s political suppression of Xinhua journalists working lawfully in the United States.

He also accused The Times on Monday of providing a platform for “Taiwan authorities to spread separatist fallacies about Taiwan independence” and of violating Chinese sovereignty by referring to Taiwan as a “country.”

Mr. Lin also accused Ms. Wang of conducting “fraudulent interviews” during her time in China, without providing any further details.

Nicole Taylor, a spokesperson for The Times, described Ms. Wang as “one of the most distinguished and respected journalists covering China.”

“She has conducted her work in accordance with local laws and regulations yet endured a campaign of harassment directed at her over accurate and evenhanded reporting,” Ms. Taylor said. “We remain committed to probing, accurate, and independent reporting about Taiwan, and we urge the governments of both the United States and China to reverse this deterioration in journalist access.”

Pei-Lin Wu contributed research.

David Pierson covers Chinese foreign policy and China’s economic and cultural engagement with the world. He has been a journalist for more than two decades.

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