The U.S. State Department said on Thursday it has ordered a pause on all of its media subscriptions as part of government-wide efforts by the Trump administration to cut spending it deems as unnecessary.

The U.S. Department of State has ordered American embassies and consulates to cancel all newspaper subscriptions deemed "non-critical to the mission." The Washington Post reported that the U.S. Department of State directed the cancellation of all subscriptions to news services and media considered "non-critical to the mission.

The U.S. State Department has changed references to China on its website, emphasising the trade deficit in an expanded section on economic ties, while dropping talk of working with allies and assistance to China on cultural and environmental issues.

Following the US State Department's revision of its China fact sheet, which now highlights economic concerns, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson expressed opposition and condemned the changes as a misrepresentation of facts,

China's foreign ministry has accused the United States of launching a smear campaign, following the release of updates to the US-China relations fact sheet on the US State Department's website. Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said the changes - which focused on the US trade deficit and competitive relations between the two countries - were