The group says the embassy threatened to take unspecified "strong countermeasures" against The Standard newspaper, which the alliance called an attack on press freedom, Voice of America reported.

"Firstly, the Chinese embassy did not specify what counteractions they would take against the newspaper in question, and it is something of a concern — particularly coming from a global powerhouse in the mold of China," Nigel Nyamutumbu, head of the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

"And this, in our view, such unspecified threats would amount to an attack on press freedom," he said.

Nyamutumbu said, "The Chinese embassy did not also seek any redress with the professional mechanisms that exist, whether through the ombudsman of the Alpha Media Holdings, which houses the newspaper that they had issues with, or approaching the self-regulatory mechanism that is available to seek redress and to seek accountability, and to get areas they wanted threshed out to be handled."

"They could also have used the Zimbabwe Media Commission or the diplomatic channels so that their issues could have been handled amicably outside of issuing statements that have a chilling effect on press freedom," he added.

Chinese Embassy officials did not comment on the issue so far.