Senators Urge US Media Outlets to End Ties With CCP Media China Daily

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) speaks during a press conference in the U.S. Capitol in Washington on July 11, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Two Republican senators are urging nine U.S. media outlets to cut ties with China Daily, an English-language newspaper that they say is a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda publication.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, sent letters to the heads of “nine media companies currently accepting money from China Daily,” according to a press release on March 4.

The letters were sent to The Seattle Times, the Houston Chronicle, The Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, Time, USA Today, the Financial Times, the Sun Sentinel, and the Chicago Tribune.

“The CCP’s efforts to infiltrate American institutions are extensive, and news outlets are not immune to these ventures. China Daily is one of the CCP’s leading organs to subvert U.S. news media by amplifying the goals and ambitions of the party,” the senators wrote, adding that China Daily is “owned and operated” by the CCP’s Propaganda Department.

China Daily was registered as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) in 1983. In 2020, the newspaper was among many Chinese state media outlets designated as foreign missions in the United States, making the outlets and their employees official arms of the CCP.

“China Daily is an arm of the CCP. This is a well-known fact, and there are no shortage of examples showing the outlet’s fealty to the party,” the senators wrote.

“From whitewashing the genocide of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, to excusing the CCP’s continued bankrolling of Russia’s war against Ukraine, China Daily’s mission is to propagate the goals of the party.

“By continuing to do business with China Daily, your outlet is disseminating CCP propaganda to an American audience,” they added.

According to the most recent FARA disclosure, China Daily paid more than $1 million in printing and advertisement expenses to the nine outlets from May 1 to Oct. 31 last year.

The Los Angeles Times has printed supplements called “China Watch” from China Daily. In an op-ed, veteran California opinion writer John Seiler called the paid supplement an “unedited Chinese propaganda sheet.”

Mr. Seiler looked into the “China Watch” supplement published on April 23 last year, noticing how it promoted China’s economic recovery. He also called the supplement’s disclaimer—which states, “It does not involve the editorial staff of the Los Angeles Times”—weak.

“This is important because China Watch promotes what the CCP wants Southern Californians to believe is going on in the People’s Republic of China,” wrote Mr. Seiler, a contributor to The Epoch Times.

Another “China Watch” supplement, published on Aug. 20, 2023, included a story about the Chinese online shopping platform Temu and the success of its business model. However, the article doesn’t mention concerns about how some of the platform’s products could be made with forced labor.

CCP’s ‘Influence Peddling Schemes’

Mr. Rubio and Mr. Grassley noted that some media outlets have severed ties with China Daily after previous FARA disclosures and criticized the nine outlets for not following suit.

“Despite mounting evidence of the CCP’s attempts to harass and intimidate American citizens, spy on sites of national security importance to the U.S., and influence our elections, your outlet has chosen not to cut ties with China Daily,” the senators wrote.

“Your organization’s continued involvement with the Propaganda Department of the CCP impedes the countless federal efforts working to combat China’s influence peddling schemes.”

A 2023 report published by the director of national intelligence (DNI) found that China attempted to meddle in the 2022 U.S. midterm elections. A recent report found that the CCP was already using AI images of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump to sow discontent and amplify divisions in the United States ahead of the November elections.

The senators urged the nine media outlets to end ties with China Daily and any other CCP-affiliated entity.

“No company based in the United States, including news outlets, should be complicit in legitimizing the CCP’s heinous acts or promoting the regime’s outright lies,” the senators wrote.

The Epoch Times has reached out to The Seattle Times, the Houston Chronicle, The Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, Time, USA Today, the Financial Times, the Sun Sentinel, and the Chicago Tribune for comment.