China's state media outlets have stepped up their attacks on Western media in the past few weeks.

The Xinhua news agency said in an English-language report on March 15 that Western media organizations have "recruited a cohort of Chinese media practitioners as pawns to propagate their China-bashing rhetoric."

"The stories have distorted China's domestic and foreign policies and reinforced the highly biased image of China in the Western world, gravely violating basic professional ethics and eliminating any sense of objectivity," the report said.

Xinhua cited Western media's reports about China's initial COVID response and the human rights violations in Xinjiang state as examples of Western media's "smear campaign against China" that would not have been possible without the help from their Chinese staff.

"Chinese reporters in Western media have also cobbled together 'evidence' depicting China's so-called human rights violations," the Xinhua report claimed.

Experts are of the view that the Xinhua article reflects a worrying trend of finger-pointing at Chinese journalists associated with Western media outlets.

Kecheng Fang, assistant professor of media and communications at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told DW that other nationalistic media outlets have also published similar reports.

"Some of these local journalists are now worried about their personal safety as well as the safety of their family members in China," he said.

"The Xinhua article criticized them for participating in China-bashing stories, but many of the journalists I have spoken to say they will continue to contribute to the China-related reporting in Western media," Fang said, adding that they believe their work adds to a better understanding of China in foreign media.

'Attack from outside'

According to China observers in the West, accusations against local journalists working for foreign media organizations reflect the overall sense of nationalism in China.

"There is this general atmosphere of protection against the hostile intention of the 'outside,'" said David Bandurski, co-director of the China Media Project, an organization monitoring the media environment in China.

"There is a renewed push against Chinese people who are seen as colluding. We even see the word 'hostile forces' come in. It doesn't just mean outside forces; it means people inside China who are working with these 'hostile foreign forces,'" he added.

Yangyang Cheng, a fellow at Yale Law School's Paul Tsai China Center, fears the trend will put Chinese journalists working for foreign media in harm's way.

"In addition to potential friction with the Chinese state and its security forces, the views expressed in the [Xinhua] article, coming from an official channel, will further legitimize and incentivize harassment and online attacks on these Chinese journalists from Chinese nationalists and their sympathizers," she told DW.

Encouraging 'witch hunt'

A Mandarin-language article published by the state-run tabloid Global Times newspaper in February named several Chinese journalists who "defected to Western media" and stabbed the Chinese people and the country in the back.

The article revealed the names, employment histories and photos of some Chinese journalists working for foreign media outlets, and criticized them for playing a part in the alleged Western conspiracy.

"Originally, cross-culturalism was the outstanding advantage of these people, who could bring a more objective and realistic view of the world and China to Chinese and Western readers with their unique perspectives," the article said. "However, they [Chinese journalists] used their reports to pass the knife to the anti-China forces in the West and shoot their compatriots in the back."

Chiaoning Su, a journalism professor at Oakland University, said these measures could encourage Chinese nationalists to initiate a witch hunt against these journalists.

"By describing these journalists as 'traitors' and denigrating their professionalism and impartiality in the field of journalism, the Chinese government is attempting to clear its name from the misconduct that they have committed," she said. "They also try to distort press freedom that has been upheld by Western media into an ideological propaganda."

Objective reporting in China difficult

Yangyang Cheng from Yale Law School said it's imperative for foreign media to do more to protect their Chinese staff and sources in China.

Experts agree the worsening media situation in China is likely to make reporting on the country even more difficult for foreign media.

"Authoritarian countries, including China and Russia, are restricting the space for news coverage," said Chiaoning Su from Oakland University.

"As an increasing number of foreign media outlets are forced to leave China due to various reasons, they will face more challenges when it comes to their China reporting," Su said, adding that it will be difficult for them to gain the trust of the interviewees and to portray a truthful picture of the situation in the country.

Edited by: Shamil Shams