All staff of Chinese state-run media outlets in the US should be required to register with the government as foreign agents as they might be supporting Chinese intelligence gathering and “information warfare,” congressional advisers said on Wednesday.
The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission said that Beijing has rapidly expanded its overseas media presence to promote a positive view of the rising Asian nation and the Chinese Communist Party, even as it has tightened its control over media and online content at home, as well as increasing restrictions on foreign journalists in China.
The bipartisan commission recommended that the US Congress strengthen the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which requires registration by people or companies disseminating information in the US on behalf of foreign governments, political parties and other “foreign principals.”
The act is applied to foreign lobbying efforts, but the US Department of Justice has also required registration by media outlets funded by foreign governments.
While some state-run Chinese media outlets do register, the commission said the act is applied unevenly. It called for all staff of state-run outlets to be registered as they are not part of an open press.
“They should all have to register under FARA,” said Larry Wortzel, who sits on the 12-member commission. “Since 1978, the US cannot use the press for intelligence collection or perception management by law, and that’s not the case with China.”
The commission is mandated to provide recommendations to the US Congress for legislative and administrative action, but its proposals do not carry legal weight.
Its members are selected by leaders of both parties in the US House of Representatives and the Senate. They include former US lawmakers, as well as former US government, military and intelligence officials.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the commission’s annual report.
It was released as US President Donald Trump returned from a five-nation trip to Asia, including a state visit to China, where he criticized the government over trade, but praised Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
The Russian state-funded TV channel RT registered under FARA this week after pressure from the US government.
The US intelligence agencies have alleged RT served as a propaganda outlet for the Kremlin as part of its efforts to interfere in last year’s US presidential election.
Russia denies interfering.
Russia’s lower house of parliament on Wednesday retaliated to the US action, unanimously approving a bill allowing the government to register international media outlets as foreign agents.
Chinese state-run media outlets have expanded their overseas operations.
Xinhua news agency in 2015 reported that it had 180 foreign bureaus.
The commission contended that Xinhua gathers information and produces classified reports for the Chinese leadership on both domestic and international events.
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