Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday (April 28) that despite the Chinese Communist Party’s use of official media to propagate, disinform and try to undermine democracy overseas, their designation as foreign missions is not intended to shut down these media outlets, but to let the American public know that they are in fact in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.
In 2020, the Trump (Trump) administration’s State Department announced that a dozen Chinese media outlets, including Xinhua News Agency, China Global Television Network, China News Service, and Jiefang Daily, would be recognized as foreign missions. The move requires the staff of these media organizations, like embassy and consulate employees, to register with the U.S. government.
On the eve of World Press Freedom Day, Blinken participated in an online meeting to communicate with foreign media outlets. When asked by the media if he was considering easing these restrictions, Blinken said, “We’re taking steps to make sure the public knows exactly who pays their salaries and that their editorial commentary conveys the views of the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party.”
“We do this to promote transparency, not to interfere with these media outlets and their ability to report and choose their subjects, no matter how critical they are of the U.S. government.”
Blinken added: “We’re not banning these (Communist Party of China) state-run media, which continue to operate here, but we want to ensure transparency and ensure that people fully understand that what they’re reading is actually being produced at the behest of the Beijing government.”
He said, “The real concern is that the purpose of Beijing’s propaganda, disinformation and, to some extent, disinformation overseas through state-run media platforms is to interfere with or undermine democracy while limiting freedom of the press and freedom of expression in China.”
Former Secretary of State Pompeo, in announcing the measures, also said, “We just want to make sure that Americans, as consumers of information, can distinguish between news written by the free press and propaganda done by the Chinese Communist Party itself. They’re not the same thing.”
After the U.S. announced that it was classifying the CCP’s official media as a diplomatic mission, the CCP’s Foreign Ministry retaliated by revoking the press credentials of American journalists from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post and expelling them from China.
The CCP also identified these three media outlets, along with the Voice of America and Time magazine, as media organizations controlled by Washington.
Blinken said, “We’re seeing Beijing take action in response, which is likely to further limit an already incredibly limited space.”
“That’s what we understand and that’s what we’re concerned about, but a complete lack of reciprocity is not sustainable.” He said.
After the Communist Party expelled American journalists, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security tightened visa rules for Chinese journalists, limiting them to 90 days with the option to extend their visas. Journalists with Hong Kong or Macau passports are not subject to the restrictions.
“We will work together to establish a democratic vision for global information and information space, work to increase resilience to threats, and expose malicious activity from anywhere. As you all know, China has one of the least amount of free space for information in the world,” Blinken said, “and we aim to preserve the rules-based international order that we have, for decades, invested so much effort in building.”
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