Freedom of the press Chinese communist style

China denies credentials to Wall Street Journal reporter -paper

SHANGHAI, Aug 30 (Reuters) - China has not renewed journalist's credentials for a reporter of the Wall Street Journal, the newspaper's parent company said on Friday, effectively kicking him out of the country.

Chun Han Wong, a Singapore national, had been based in Beijing, where he had reported on politics in China since 2014. His visa expired on Friday.

"We can confirm that Chinese authorities have declined to renew Chun Han's press credentials," a Dow Jones spokesman said in an email. "We continue to look into the matter."

The Foreign Ministry, which accredits foreign reporters, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Singapore's embassy in Beijing did not reply to emailed questions about Wong's case.

Foreigners are not allowed to work as journalists in China without official credentials, which are required to obtain a residence visa.

A person with direct knowledge of the situation said foreign ministry officials had voiced their displeasure to the Journal about a story published on July 30 that Wong and another reporter, Philip Wen, had written.

The report said Australian authorities were looking into the activities of one of Chinese President Xi Jinping's cousins as part of probes into organized crime, money laundering and alleged Chinese influence-peddling.

Wen, an Australian, was given a three-month visa on the day before his latest visa was due to expire, the source said. Most journalist visas in China are good for a year.

The source said the foreign ministry deemed Wong to be "unfriendly" toward China in his reporting.

Writing reports about Chinese leaders or their families can be sensitive in China, where the ruling Communist Party tries to keep an iron grip on information about the leadership and carefully curates its image.

Neither the New York Times nor Bloomberg News received new journalist visas for more than a year after they published stories in 2012 about the wealth of family members of former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Xi, respectively. (Reporting by John Ruwitch and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Darren Schuettler)