China's State-run Newspaper Paid US Dailies Millions to Buy Media Influence: Report

Chinese state-run newspaper China Daily spent millions in the last six months to buy media influence as it paid huge sums to prominent US newspapers and magazines, according to an independent analyst. Citing disclosures made by the justice department, the analyst has said the English-language propaganda outlet paid several hundred thousand dollars to American publications like Time magazine and Foreign Policy magazine over a period of six months, news agency ANI reported.

According to the disclosure, the Time magazine received $700,000, the Financial Times $371,577, Foreign Policy magazine $291,000, the Los Angeles Times $272,000, and others received over $1 million.

China Daily, which is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, has paid more than $ 4.6 million to The Washington Post and nearly $ 6 million to The Wall Street Journal since November 2016, the Daily Caller reported last month. Both newspapers reportedly published paid supplements that China Daily produces called “China Watch.” The inserts are designed to look like real news articles, though they often contain a pro-Beijing spin on contemporary news events.

As per the Justice Department, China Daily also paid for advertising in several other newspapers, including The New York Times (USD50,000), Foreign Policy (USD240,000), The Des Moines Register (USD34,600) and CQ-Roll Call (USD76,000).

It spent a total of $11,002,628 on advertising in US newspapers, and another $265,822 on advertising with Twitter.

The Justice Department has for years required China Daily to disclose its activities semi-annually under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). The most recent filing, which China Daily submitted on June 1, is the first to include detailed breakdowns of payments to American news outlets. The outlet disclosed those expenditures for the period between November 2016 and April 2020.

The Los Angeles Times, The Seattle Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Chicago Tribune, The Houston Chronicle and The Boston Globe are all listed as clients of China Daily. The Chinese outlet paid the Los Angeles Times $657,523 for printing services, according to the FARA filings.

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