In June of this year, the US Department of Justice received a financial statement from China Daily, which showed that over the past three and a half years, China Daily paid a total of nearly US$19 million in advertising and printing costs to different US media. In the past six months alone, China Daily has invested nearly US$2 million in advertising in the US media. From May to October this year, China Daily spent more than US$4.4 million in printing, distribution, advertising and administration. Of the money paid, more than US$85,000 was spent on advertising with The Wall Street Journal, US$34,000 was spent on the Los Angeles Times; and US$100,000 was paid for advertising in the Foreign Policy Magazine. In addition to advertising fees, China Daily also pays a high printing cost to many newspapers.
The financial statement disclosed that China Daily paid to open a “China Watch” column on the inside pages of two newspapers to publish commentaries on China’s economy, culture and geopolitics. The Wall Street Journal has a website that China Daily funds. It is simply a reprinted version of “China Daily,” carrying articles such as Beijing’s handling of COVID 19 as well as articles that criticize US officials because they blame the Chinese government for misleading the West and causing the virus to spread throughout the world. In August this year, some newspapers cut off their ties with China Daily. For example, the Washington Free Beacon disclosed that the New York Times quietly ended its partnership with China Daily.
In February of this year, the U.S. State Department listed China Daily, the Xinhua News Agency, the China Global Television Network, China Radio International, and the overseas edition of People’s Daily as “foreign agents” because China has direct control over them and they are part of the CCP’s propaganda machinery.
Source: Radio Free Asia, November 23, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/propaganda-11232020111312.html?encoding=simplified