Victor Ho, former editor-in-chief of Vancouver’s Sing Tao Daily, has testified before the Canadian Parliament to reveal how the Chinese Communist regime has infiltrated Canadian communities. Recently, he revealed the Chinese Communist Party’s control of Canada’s Chinese language media.
According to the National Post, Ho revealed that Beijing is now the dominant Chinese language newspaper or magazine in Canada: “I can’t find a truly independent, non-partisan newspaper covering China here, and I can’t help you find one. The language barrier makes the Chinese-language media industry a “black box” for non-Chinese-speaking Canadians.
He Liangmao, a former editor-in-chief of the Vancouver Star Island Journal, mentioned that his colleagues were surprised when he wrote an op-ed in 2017 with content sensitive to the Chinese Communist Party. “My colleagues thought it was very dangerous.” He said, “They were worried about the so-called political consequences, like, ‘You can’t go back to Hong Kong, you can’t go back to China.’ Maybe it’s the psychological threat from that huge governmental influence, here, from the huge governmental shadow of China (Communist Party of China) …… which to me is really sad.”
In fact, the op-ed contradicts the paper’s usual coverage of Chinese affairs, which is based on material provided by the Hong Kong-based Sing Tao headquarters and is consistently pro-communist. He said the paper’s tendency is typical of most Chinese-Canadian news media, whose coverage appears to be under the control of the mainland dictatorship.
The main reason for this, he said, is that the media owners are eager to please the Chinese government for commercial reasons. They faithfully report on events in which the Consulate is involved, and at these events, journalists eat the food and “eat” the Consulate’s “propaganda materials.
Testifying before the Parliamentary Committee on Canada-China Relations, He Liangmao urged the federal government to take action on the issue, including the implementation of laws similar to those in Australia to curb interference from overseas. He said legislation should be passed to require foreign government “agents,” including pro-communist media, to register as foreign missions.
According to the National Post, Toronto-based Hong Kong democracy advocate Yulan Feng also shared a related experience. According to Fung, last year the Chinese New Age TV station abruptly stopped interviewing her on its television news program because of rumors that she had been blacklisted by the Chinese regime.
A source familiar with the inner workings of New Times TV said that journalists were indeed told to avoid Feng Yulan and, in general, not to interview organizers of rallies in support of the Hong Kong protesters.
Feng said she put together a list of different ways she believes the Chinese Communist Party has used Canadian media to exert its influence, including indirect pressure on news media through advertisers and community groups aligned with Beijing, and the provision of programming on the Communist Party’s state-run CCTV channel in Canada.
“We have to understand the nature of this Chinese Communist regime that we’re dealing with,” She said, “They brainwash their citizens with propaganda and disinformation …… why should we allow them to broadcast in Canada?”
He said he was free to report objectively on world news from Canada, the United States and non-China in the first 10 pages of the Vancouver Star Island Journal newspaper. However, the paper’s coverage of China usually came directly from its headquarters offices in Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
When “sensitive” issues arise locally, he said, he tries to “break red lines” and provide balanced coverage. But he is not sure if his successor will do the same.
He said the Chinese media are often invited to introductory meetings at the Chinese consulate, and are often offered food. “They will reach out to you, especially, if you are the editor-in-chief or manager of a newspaper, and they will try to contact you and chat with you.”
He Liangmao noted that what CCP diplomats provide is just propaganda, not newsworthy, but “most newspapers or television stations, they will take what they are told.” He also noted that many free newspapers distributed to Chinese Canadians amplify the pro-Communist viewpoint.
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