Commentary
That’s even though there’s been a
spate of Politico coverage that’s been critical of foreign interference over the past several years.
Specifically, on Nov. 27, 2019, Politico included an ad in
that’s day’s Huddle news aggregation email publicizing an event called
China Conference: USA, branded by the
South China Morning Post (SCMP)
. The Huddle ad links to
a landing page, which lists the event under a banner for SCMP Events & Conferences. The SCMP-branded
event is referred to as “China Conference United States: Competition or Cooperation,” taking place Dec. 10, 2019, at The Altman Building in New York City.
The event is to be SCMP’s first U.S. conference, according to a Politico spokesperson.
Alibaba acquired SCMP “to use the paper to counteract the negative portrayal of China in the western media,” according to
Quartz. Likewise, according to the
conference’s main page, SCMP’s
mission is to “Lead the global conversation about China.” The New York Times
cited a senior SCMP official as saying at the time, “What’s good for China is also good for Alibaba.”
The ad in Politico’s
Huddle raises the questions, “Can meaningful cooperation be unearthed between China and the United States? Could the trade war do irreparable damage to the economic partnership between the two?” The event
offers to “bring together policymakers, business leaders, academics and entrepreneurs to share their views and vision on future growth and opportunities in the region.”
The event, in particular, will
feature Politico chief economic correspondent Ben White, who will co-moderate “the closing keynote conversation on the predictions for the next decade of U.S.–China relations.”
The event program could be understood as providing China’s helpful interpretation of how U.S.–China events should develop.
The
landing page also offers attendees the chance to “hear business leaders and government officials debate how the global economic, social and technological landscapes will evolve during this time of immense competition and disagreement, and attempt to establish a framework for rebuilding positive, albeit competitive, dialogue between them.” The event
boasts “30+ high-ranking government officials, corporate chiefs and well-known entrepreneur speakers from the United States and China.”
“That partnership exclusively focused on content sharing and joint reporting on U.S.–China relations,” Dayspring said.
A Wall Street Journal
article provided by Dayspring notes the potential for “joint reporting efforts around the continuing trade talks between China and the United States, as well as a potential peace summit between” President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
A Wall Street Journal article on the Politico–SCMP linkup also
mentions that “if all goes well, the companies intend to further develop editorial ties and business initiatives with the possibility of deeper financial investment on both sides.”
Asked if that has materialized, Dayspring said, “There is no financial or economic relationship between SCMP and Politico.”
Instead, Dayspring said, “Politico’s participation in SCMP’s first U.S. conference is within the scope of the existing content partnership.”
He noted that Politico journalists have appeared on SCMP event panels, including an
SCMP Kuala Lumpur conference in 2018. According to a
release from that event, Michael Crowley, Politico’s senior foreign affairs correspondent, served as the moderator for a panel discussion called, “Towards Safer Regional Security.”
For that
release, Crowley said, “We are at the most uncertain and risky moment in U.S. China relations in perhaps 30 years. ... As a trade war emerges and top U.S. officials call for a stronger strategic response to China, it is crucial to have public conversations like the one SCMP hosted about potential economic and security consequences.”
In addition, Dayspring said, SCMP journalists have participated in Politico event panels, including the 2018 Politico Pro Summit. A
schedule from the event lists Robert Delaney, South China Morning Post’s U.S. bureau chief, on a panel entitled “What’s Next for U.S.-China Relations?”
“Needless to say, Politico stands by our independent and nonpartisan reporting,“ Dayspring said. ”It is a part of Politico’s
mission and foundational to our success as a publication and thriving business.”
And so, in contexts other than its alliance with SCMP, Politico has a record of being critical of foreign interference.
But in the case of SCMP, Politico is carrying on its site material from a content partner linked to the Chinese Communist Party that toes a pro-Beijing line, whose acquirers explicitly set a goal of influencing China coverage through foreign interference.
Politico is spending any reputation that it’s gained for “independent and nonpartisan reporting” on vouching for the bona fides of what amounts to Chinese Communist Party propaganda.
Christopher C. Hull holds a doctorate in government from Georgetown University. He is president of Issue Management Inc., senior fellow at Americans for Intelligence Reform, and author of “Grassroots Rules” (Stanford, 2007).
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.