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control of a foreign government, not simply a foreign individual or firm. Second,
the diminishing space within America’s Chinese-language media for independent voices runs counter to the goals of a liberal society seeking a diversity of perspectives. Furthermore, the PRC’s control of Chinese-language media outlets in America and
its increasingly strong position among English-language outlets provides China with the potential of mobilizing Chinese Americans and Americans alike to espouse policies counter to US interest. The constant drumbeat of anti-American reporting
in pro-Beijing media outlets headquartered in the United States creates an unhealthy
environment.
Promoting Transparency
A major challenge is the fact that China has worked successfully to mask its influence operations with respect to US media. On paper, for example, the Asian Culture and Media Group controls the pro-China SinoVision and Qiaobao as a private company. The reality is that it is staffed by people who served the state-run China News Service and were, sources insist, dispatched to the United States by the Chinese government to establish propaganda operations in the United States. Given its nominal status
as a private company, taking action to shut down its operations would be fraught with even more legal and ethical challenges than those involving media corporations directly owned by the PRC. The same holds true for publications and websites that were once independent but have now increasingly fallen under the sway of the PRC. If US law protects the rights of publishers of newspapers or websites to put their personal political imprint on their enterprises, how can the US government move to deny it to those of a pro-PRC bent?
At a minimum, what US authorities can do is work to establish the real ownership structure of Chinese (and other foreign) companies purchasing US-based media. Any foreign-owned or foreign-controled media (including print media), and particularly those that advance a foreign government line, should be required to register under the
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
Beyond FARA, there should also be a review to see whether these organizations and their employees should also register under existing lobbying laws as foreign agents. In addition, there is an argument to be made to ensure that employees of these organizations should be given a disclosure package making them aware that they are
working for a foreign agent institution.
Media
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