The United States continues to push back on Chinese communist propaganda. Most recently, the State Department designated the U.S. operations of six China-based media companies as foreign missions, said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo:”
“They are all substantially owned or effectively controlled by a foreign government.. . .We simply want to ensure that American people, consumers of information, can differentiate between news written by a free press and propaganda distributed by the Chinese Communist Party itself. They’re not the same thing.”
These six entities designated under the Foreign Missions Act include Yicai Global, Jiefang Daily, Xinmin Evening News, Social Sciences in China Press, Beijing Review, and Economic Daily as foreign missions.
Over the past decade, and particularly under General Secretary Xi Jinping’s tenure, the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, has asserted greater control over China’s state-backed propaganda outlets.
General Secretary Xi himself has stated, “Party-owned media must. . . embody the party’s will, safeguard the party’s authority. . .their actions must be highly consistent with the party.” While free media around the world are beholden to the truth, PRC media are beholden to the CCP, said State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus in a statement.
The decision to designate these six entities does not place any restrictions on what these organizations may publish in the United States. It simply recognizes them for what they are – PRC-controlled propaganda outlets.
This action follows the June 22 designation of China Central Television, China News Service, the People’s Daily, and the Global Times and the February 18 designation of Xinhua News Agency, China Global Television Network, China Radio International, China Daily Distribution Corporation, and Hai Tian Development USA.
Entities designated as foreign missions must adhere to certain requirements that increase transparency relating to their associated government’s media activities in the United States.
“Our goal is to protect the freedom of press in the United States, and ensure the American people know whether their news is coming from the free press or from a malign foreign government,” said spokesperson Ortagus. “Transparency isn’t threatening to those who value truth.”
