(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. designated five Chinese media companies as “foreign missions,” a decision that reflects the Trump administration’s view that the communist party of Xi Jinping is imposing increasingly draconian government-control over news services, senior State Department officials said.The State Department’s foreign mission designation includes Xinhua News Agency, China Global Television Network, China Radio International, China Daily Distribution Corp. and Hai Tian Development USA, the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday. The designation requires the outlets to adhere to requirements similar to those imposed on embassies and consulates in the U.S., including registering their current properties and getting prior approval for any acquisitions of new ones, the officials said.China’s foreign ministry denounced the move, saying the country’s media outlets helped promote understanding and adding that Beijing would “reserve the right” to retaliate. “We urge the U.S. to discard its ideological prejudice and Cold War zero-sum-game mentality, and stop ill-advised measures that undermine bilateral trust and cooperation,” ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters at a regular briefing Wednesday in Beijing.Separately, Geng said that authorities had revoked the local press credentials of three Wall Street Journal staff members over a Feb. 3 commentary with a headline describing China as the “real sick man of Asia.” Geng said China expected the newspaper to apologize for using “a racially discriminatory title, triggering indignation and condemnation among the Chinese people and the international community.” The U.S. has stepped up its pressure on China’s government as it competes for economic and military influence in the Asia-Pacific region. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper warned on Saturday that China is moving further outside the international order as the world’s second-largest economy pursues more aggressive economic and military policies at the expense of other nations.Although Beijing and Washington have reached agreement on a “phase one” trade deal, the two sides have continued to feud over a broad range of issues including telecommunications policy. The U.S. last week charged Huawei Technologies Co. with racketeering to engage in intellectual property theft and recently charged members of China’s military over one of the biggest data thefts in American history.The U.S. made the decision on the Chinese media outlets as it sees Xi stepping up his control of the country’s media in an effort to better control the government’s message and expands its overseas media operations, the officials said. The U.S. government doesn’t view these media outlets as independent, the officials said.Read More: Racketeering Hammer Gives U.S. Legal Boost Against HuaweiCGTN America, the U.S. division of China’s state-owned broadcaster, registered as a foreign agent in 2019 in response to a request from the Justice Department. Other U.S. partners of Chinese media entities, including the China Daily Distribution Corp. and Hai Tian Development U.S.A., Inc., both of which distribute newspapers, have been registered for decades.Other international news organizations have also registered as foreign agents with the Justice Department, including T&R Productions LLC, a U.S. contractor for Russian state broadcaster RT, which registered in 2017. At the time, the U.S. Congress was investigating RT’s role in Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential campaign, as well as possible influence by Sputnik, a state-run news agency.(Updates with Chinese response in third paragraph.)\--With assistance from Joe Light, Bill Allison and Sharon Chen.To contact the reporter on this story: Glen Carey in Washington at [email protected] contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Faries at [email protected], Sara FordenFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.