An analysis of 24 privately owned Australian media outlets that produce Chinese-language news found evidence of ownership or financial support from at least four of them, the Australian think tank said in a report released On Thursday.
The four include Oceania Media Group, whose publication of the Oceanic Times has been accused of being Propaganda for the Chinese Communist Party, according to the report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
The rise of the WeChat is rapidly exacerbating the situation.
One of the report’s authors, Alex Joske, said: “the report finds that the influence of the Chinese communist party in Chinese media in Australia is very high”. “WeChat is accelerating the influence of the Chinese communist party through censorship and account restrictions. A WeChat account registered in Australia can only be published four times a month, while a Chinese account can be published every day.”
The ASPI report also analysed the presence of Chinese-language media executives or producers in Australia at meetings and training courses supported by the Chinese government.
This has led some media outlets to completely avoid publishing news critical of China and spread false news, while some bilingual media tend to omit parts of the original English text in their Chinese translations.
The ASPI said the government should strengthen regulation of Chinese language media in Australia and WeChat, and suggested increasing investment in Chinese language content in public media such as ABC and SBS.
“A handful of news organizations, such as ABC and SBS, typically provide high-quality coverage on a range of issues,” the report said.
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