On this episode of China Uncensored,
Chinese propaganda—
now as American as apple pie!
Hi, welcome to China Uncensored,
I’m your host Chris Chappell.
Chinese propaganda.
It’s not just for Chinese people anymore.
The Chinese Communist Party’s “official” perspective on China
has infiltrated nearly every American home,
almost every major English language newspaper,
TV network, and radio station.
And it happened so quietly,
so gradually,
that almost no one saw it coming.
Like the aliens.
They've been here all along.
Ahem.
In 2013, Chinese leader Xi Jinping
gave a speech at—
and this is what it was really called—
China’s National Meeting on Propaganda
and Thought Work.
Thought work?
Okay, come on,
now it's like you're not even
trying to hide it.
What did Xi go to next?
The National Meeting on the Same Thing
We Do Every Meeting, Pinky-
Try to Take Over the World?
Anyway, at the “Thought Work” meeting,
Xi said China needs
“to strengthen media coverage…
and promote China’s views internationally.”
The Chinese Communist Party
now spends $10 billion dollars a year
to spread its propaganda overseas.
And it has three goals,
according to independent watchdog,
Freedom House:
One: To promote a positive view of China
and benign perspective of the CCP’s
authoritarian regime.
Two: To encourage foreign investment in China
and openness to Chinese investment abroad;
and Three: To marginalize, demonize,
or entirely suppress anti-CCP voices.
In other words,
the CCP’s goals are to
One: Paint a giant rainbow.
Two: Get foreigners to seek the pot of gold;
and Three: Suppress any rainbow experts
who point out the rainbow is fake.
So there are some obvious
Chinese propaganda methods—
and some very sneaky,
subtle ones.
The obvious:
An ad for state-run Xinhua News
in the middle of Times Square.
A waste of money, for sure.
Who cares about Xinhua?
I was looking at the ad for...
whatever she’s doing.
Then there’s the English China Daily
in newspaper boxes
all over major US cities.
But would you pay 25 cents to read about
how every country loves China?
And of course,
English state-run television.
It used to be called CCTV America.
But in 2016 they rebranded it as
“China Global Television Network”,
or CGTN.
But you can still tell what it is
by all their stupid panda coverage.
I think it's pretty clear now
why pandas are endangered.
But it's not just pandas.
Let's take a look at how CGTN covers
Tibetan buddhism.
The 11th Panchen Lama
is the spiritual leader of Buddhism
in China’s Tibet region.
As China is celebrating the 20th anniversary
of his enthronement,
he’s talked about some of the changes
he wants to make.
Hmmm,
I wonder what those changes could be.
The core values of socialism,
such as harmony, honesty, and equality,
have their corresponding concepts in Sutra.
Panchen of past generations
have been known for patriotism.
Wow!
Communism is just like Buddhism.
And to be a good religious leader,
you have to be loyal to the Communist Party.
Thanks, Panchen Lama.
And thanks, CGTN America,
for not mentioning how this Panchen Lama’s “enthronement”
came after the Communist Party
kidnapped the actual Panchen Lama
and then replaced him with this kid,
who they then spent 20 years brainwashing.
Did you know CGTN is available
in a quarter of American households?
Now, there’s also that sneaky,
subtle kind of propaganda I mentioned.
It’s a strategy the CCP calls
“borrowing the boat to reach the sea.”
In other words,
putting state-sponsored propaganda
into Western media outlets
in a way that makes it feel like it’s
part of those outlets’ normal content.
For example, these paid advertising supplements
are designed to look and feel just like articles—
and then slipped into major US papers
like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
Not subtle enough?
How about how every day,
state-run media provides TV footage from China
for free through its news feed,
and through services like Reuters—
so that American media outlets can pick it up.
For example, this NBC News video
shows footage of flooding in China...
And what do you know,
part of it is identical
to the state-run CCTV feed.
You can usually tell because
state-run media reports on China’s natural disasters
focus heavily on how great the rescue efforts are.
It sends the subtle message
that the CCP is here to help.
For a lot of China-related TV
news stories in the US,
most of the footage and information
comes from Chinese state-run media.
And there’s radio, too.
This Reuters investigation showed that
programming from state-run China Radio International
was being broadcast on radio stations
in 15 American cities—
because many stations were willing to allow
part ownership by Chinese companies
to make financial ends meet.
So the state-run propaganda
mostly covers the first and second goals
listed by Freedom House.
But what about the third goal?
You see, propaganda alone
isn’t enough to control the China narrative.
Because what about all those
pesky foreign journalists!
That’s where censorship comes in.
There’s a lot of obvious stuff.
Like when government thugs
stop media from reporting on something specific.
But more damaging is the self-censorship.
Like how journalists based in China
avoid reporting on certain sensitive topics,
for fear they could get kicked out of China altogether.
Especially after the CCP made
an example out of Al-Jazeera’s Melissa Chan.
And of course,
sometimes editors are told to kill a story
to protect their company.
Yaar, dead articles tell no tales.
But they boost sales.
Which I believe is the sixth movie
in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
So the CCP is spending
$10 billion dollars a year on propaganda,
as well as implementing
widespread censorship pressure.
Why is this a big deal?
Because it’s severely misleading US companies,
government officials,
and average Americans
when it comes to making decisions on China.
The CCP says its economy is strong,
so US companies go there...
but often lose money.
The CCP boasts about its high-speed rail,
so US government officials think,
hey, it would be a great idea
to have the Chinese government invest in
high-speed rail projects in America.
Even though they sentenced their former railways minister
to death...
after a kind of catastrophic
high speed rail crash
that they may have tried to cover up.
But one thing the CCP for sure covered up
was food safety hazards.
Which then literally killed puppies.
So yeah, not good.
But is there anything the US government
can do about the spread of Chinese
state-run propaganda in America?
Well the first thing they can do
is watch the situation closely.
Last year, Congress passed a bipartisan law
that would help the State Department
to work with experts to closely monitor
propaganda and disinformation
from the Chinese Communist Party.
They can also demand more transparency.
The FCC could implement rules
that require clear labeling of foreign government ownership
of media outlets or of paid content
sponsored by foreign governments.
And they should review potential acquisitions
of US media companies by Chinese state-run
or affiliated companies.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States
should have the power to stop these deals
if necessary.
So as we wait for the quick,
decisive action of the US government,
is there anything you can you do
in the meantime?
Well, keep your eyes peeled
for whether what you're watching or reading
is coming from Chinese state-run media.
Brands like these.
And maybe take those views
with a teeny, tiny grain of salt.
And when you’re reading or watching news
in American mainstream media
that have bureaus in China,
keep in mind that even though their reports
might be factually correct,
there’s a lot of important stories
they’re not covering.
And of course,
you should take a look at alternative
sources of information as well.
Like maybe a subversive comedy news program
that, I don't know,
uncensors China-related news.
So what do you think of
Chinese propaganda infiltrating
American hearts and minds?
Leave your comments below.
Thanks for watching this episode of China Uncensored,
once again I’m your host, Chris Chappell,
see you next time.