Beijing: China on Wednesday said it has revoked the press credentials of three reporters for the US newspaper Wall Street Journal over a headline for an opinion column deemed by the government to be racist and slanderous.

The move follows a complaint over the headline, which referred to the current virus outbreak in China and called the country the " Real Sick Man of Asia." In a statement on Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the Feb. 3 op-ed by Bard College Professor Walter Russel Mead " smears the efforts of the Chinese government and people on fighting (the virus) epidemic." " The editors used such a racially discriminatory title, triggering indignation and condemnation among the Chinese people and the international community," he said.