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Propaganda and Lies: Background of Phoenix TV Whose Reporter Spoke for the CCP at White House Press Briefing

At the White House briefing on April 6, a Phoenix Television reporter asked President Trump whether he is “personally working directly with China” on securing medical supplies.

“Only last week, there were multiple flights coming from China full of medical supplies,” the reporter said. “Companies like Huawei and Alibaba have been donating to the United States, like 1.5 million N95 masks and also a lot of medical gloves, and many more medical supplies.”

“Sounds like a statement more than a question,” Trump answered, “Who are you working for, China?”

The reporter said no and named Phoenix TV as her outlet, calling it a “privately-owned company.”

Later, Senator Ted Cruz pointed out that Phoenix TV  “has been waging information warfare in the U.S. for years. They are nominally private but actually state owned (by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)).” Representative Paul Gosar, an Arizona Republican, also asked in a tweet, “Why is an outlet with such close ties to Communist China allowed in the White House briefing room?”

Background on Phoenix TV

The National Review reported that a former Phoenix TV news director, Chung Pong, who said that then Chinese president Jiang Zemin fired him in 2002, testified to the U.S. Federal Communication Committee (FCC) in 2018 that the Chinese government had tight enough control of the outlet that it was able to order the removal of specific news items that “positively reported [on] the United States or events in the United States.”

“I know from personal experience that Phoenix TV’s content is subject to the dictates of the leadership of the CCP Central Committee’s Propaganda Department, the CCP Central Committee’s Overseas Propaganda Office, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which has often sent instructions directly to Phoenix Satellite TV.”

Epoch Times reported that several Phoenix key personnel have close ties to the government:

  • Liu Changle, born in 1951, is the Chairman and CEO of Phoenix TV.  He joined the army at the age of 19. He graduated from the Beijing Broadcasting Institute in 1983; was assigned to China National Radio (CNR) as a military reporter; and successively moved up as an editor, news commentator, and Director of the Editorial Department. He always held a military rank while working at the CNR. Liu said that he was at the level of Colonel in the late 1980s.
  • Wang Jiyan, Executive Director and former Executive Vice President and Director of the Chinese Language Station, was a member of the China Film Administration’s five-member group to study overseas media.
  • Shao Wenguang, Director of the European Station, was a Ministerial Counselor to the United States.
  • Cui Qiang, Executive Deputy CEO, Executive Director, Chairman of Phoenix New Media, worked at the CNR for 10 years.
  • Yu Tonghao, a senior consultant and former Executive Vice President and Co-founder of Phoenix TV, served the Director of the Guangdong Radio Station, the Director of the Pearl River Economic Station, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Guangdong Provincial TV Station, Deputy General Manager of China Radio and Television International Economic and Technical Cooperation Corporation, and Director of China Radio and Television Society, before.

The Hoover Institution’s report, “Chinese Influence & American Interests: Promoting Constructive Vigilance” about the CCP’s infiltration in U.S. media industry, released on November 29, 2018, mentioned that Phoenix TV tried to buy two FM radio stations in Los Angles but was blocked. Then it went through H&H Capital Partners to purchase the radio station XEWW in Tijuana city, Mexico, which is on the U.S.-Mexico border. They then changed the station to broadcast in Chinese instead of Spanish. The document that H&H Capital Partners submitted to the FCC showed Phoenix was the buyer.

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Local Government: Wuhan Ended Its Lockdown, but the Risk Is Still There

MSN Chinese reported that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) reopened the city of Wuhan on April 8, after it had been locked down for 76 days starting on January 23.

The Wuhan Group Corporation of China Railway Administration said that 55,000 people bought tickets to leave Wuhan on the first day it was unlocked. About 40 percent of them will go to the Pearl River Delta Region, which includes Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and several other cities in Guangdong Province.

Flights to cities in China will be reopened gradually. But flights to Beijing, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and other foreign countries will not resume.

MSN also reported that, on April 6, Health Times, a newspaper under the CCP mouthpiece People’s Daily, reported that Yang Jiong, an expert at the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, said that according to the recent three days of data, about 0.15 to 0.3 percent of people in Wuhan are asymptomatic carriers. That is about 10,000 to 20,000 people. However, the article from Health Times was later deleted.

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WHO: WHO Official’s Reaction to Taiwan Question and Response from U.S. and Hong Kong Afterward

On March 28, Bruce Aylward, an Assistant Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) took a video conference interview with Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK). He gave some bizarre responses when reporter Yvonne Tong asked him about Taiwan. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has declared that Taiwan is part of itself and with its influence, locked Taiwan out of the WHO and other international organizations. (Epoch Times)

Tong: “Will the WHO consider Taiwan’s membership?”

Aylward: No response.

Tong: “Hello?”

Aylward: “I’m sorry. I couldn’t hear your question. Yvonne.”

Tong: “Okay, let me repeat the question.”

Aylward: “No, that’s okay. Let’s move to another one then.”

Tong: “I’m actually curious in talking about Taiwan as well. On Taiwan’s case.”

Video conference was disconnected.

Tong called Aylward again.

Tong: “I just want to see if you can comment a bit on how Taiwan has done so far in terms of containing the virus.”

Aylward: “Well, we’ve already talked about China, and, you know, when you look across all the different areas of China, they’ve actually all done quite a good job. So with that, I’d like to thank you very much for inviting us to participate…”

Interview can be seen online: https://twitter.com/HKWORLDCITY/status/1243865641448169474

The WHO made a statement later that day, saying that the question of Taiwanese membership was not for its staff to answer, but instead “up to WHO member states.” (Radio France International)

U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo told the media on March 30, that the State Department will try its best to help Taiwan to obtain an appropriate role in the WHO. President Trump signed the TAIPEI ACT on March 26, which called for the U.S. to use its influence and other vehicles to support Taiwan to become a non-sovereignty-state member of international organizations and obtain observer status in other appropriate organizations. (Radio France International)

On April 2, Edward Yau, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, accused RTHK of breaching its charter obligations. He said, “The Secretary holds the view that the presentation in that episode of the aforesaid program has breached the One-China Principle and the purposes and mission of RTHK as a public service broadcaster as specified in the Charter.” (The Guardian)

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Medical Supplies: Taiwan Donated 10 Million Face Masks to the World

On April 1, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen announced that, out of concern for humanity, Taiwan would donate 10 million face masks to the medical staff of the countries that are suffering severe coronavirus infections, including 2 million to the U.S., 7 million to Europe, and 1 million to countries that maintain diplomatic relationship with Taiwan.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission thanked Taiwan in her personal Tweet. The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the U.S. diplomatic mission in Taiwan, thanked Taiwan in its post, and said, “Taiwan is indeed a true friend!”

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Economy: 150 to 200 Million People in China May Lose Their Jobs

China is facing a severe economic slowdown and massive unemployment because the coronavirus hit it so badly.

#1: Caixin published a model that forecasted 150 to 200 million people will lose their jobs. Using the step-by-step estimation method, 200 million people (including 180 million in the service industry) will lose their jobs. Using the aggregation estimation method, 150 million (including 110 million in the service industry) will lose their jobs. (Caixin)

#2: According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, by March 30, 76 percent of small or mid-sized companies resumed operation. That means 24 percent, or nearly a quarter of the companies did not resume yet. (HK01)

#3: The South China Morning Post reported that more than 460,000 companies in China stopped their operations in the first quarter. (Radio France International)

#4: Western buyers have canceled many orders they placed with Chinese companies. The only hot orders are medical supplies. There will be 9 million college students graduating this summer. However, the number of possible jobs for those college graduates has dropped 30 percent from a year ago. Peng Airao, the Chief Economist of the Great China Regions of the ING Bank, predicted that China’s unemployment rate may rise to 10 percent by the end of this year. (Voice of America)

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Local Government: China Implemented Health “Code” on Mobile Phones

China has implemented a Health “Code” (健康码), installing it on each individual’s mobile phone. The Health Code has three colors: green, yellow, and red. Different locales may implement the color system differently, but in general, green means the phone holder is healthy; yellow means the person needs to quarantine himself at home; and red means the person needs to go to the hospital for quarantine and treatment.

People are required to install the Health Code app on their phone and show the status when entering places.

Wuhan recently mandated that when riding the bus or subway, people must use their phone to scan the bus or subway car barcode when getting on and scan it again when getting off. This will allow the government to track who rides the bus or train and from which station to which station. When one person is confirmed as having the coronavirus infection, the Health Code of other people who also rode the same bus or train car will change to yellow, meaning they need to quarantine themselves at home.

Radio Free Asia reported that it received a notice that a residential community management office sent to the residents. The notice stated: “According to the notice from the Wuhan Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government, if citizens went out for a non-business reason and had contact with a novel coronavirus patient, or was suspected or confirmed as having the coronavirus infection, they would be responsible for all expenses, including the quarantine cost, examination cost, treatment cost, and living expenses.” The notice stated that the 14-day quarantine and medical exam cost is about 8,000 yuan (US $ 1,120) and the treatment cost for a confirmed patient is 400,000 yuan (US $56,000).

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Medical Supplies: “Wake-up Call” – the CCP Controls U.S. Pharmaceutical Supplies

Globalization has resulted in the manufacturing of many medical products and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) moving to China. During the coronavirus pandemic outbreak, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is able to control the export of medical materials to support countries that are its “friend” and also to force other countries to reduce their criticisms of the CCP.

#1: On March 4, Xinhua published a commentary on U.S.-China relationship, stating that it can send the U.S. to “the hell of the novel coronavirus pandemic” by banning the export of medical supplies.

“If China retaliates against the U.S. at this time, in addition to announcing a travel ban on the U.S., it can also announce the strategic control of medical products and a ban on exports to the U.S. Then the U.S. will be fully trapped in the novel coronavirus.

“According to the public statements of officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most of the face masks in the U.S. are manufactured in and imported from China. If China prohibits the export of masks to the U.S., the U.S. will fall into a mask shortage. Then it won’t even be able to take the most basic measures to prevent the novel coronavirus.

“Also, according to the public statement of the CDC officials, most of the drugs in the U.S. are also imported. Though some drugs are imported from Europe, their production bases are still placed in China. Therefore, more than 90 percent of imported drugs in the U.S. are related to China. This means that, at this time, as long as China declares to keep its medicines for domestic demand and ban exports, the U.S. will fall into the hell of the novel coronavirus pandemic.”

#2: An article from the Washington Times, back on March 17, said the coronavirus is a “wake-up call” to the U.S. that it is overly dependent on China for its pharmaceutical supplies. “With the coronavirus crisis threatening to strain the U.S. government’s large stockpiles of such drugs, health experts warn that China’s own outbreak and related societal shutdown could mean major shortages ahead as Chinese factories struggle to keep up production of the APIs.”

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Local Government: Local Governments in China Are Still against Hubei People

Though the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had been reporting zero infection cases in Hubei and, on March 25, removed the lockdown in Hubei Province for all cities except Wuhan, other cities in China are still suspicious of Hubei people and do not want to take them in.

Voice of America (VOA) reported that, at a bridge between Hubei and Jiangxi provinces, police from both sides engaged in a fight since Jiangxi wanted to block Hubei people from coming in. On March 27, police from Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province went to the bridge to set up roadblocks to prevent automobiles from Hubei from crossing the bridge. Hubei police objected. Both sides engaged in a fight which they then further reinforcement. It escalated when Jiangxi’s special police and hundreds of Hubei people joined in. Police cars were even flipped upside down.

QQ reported that many provinces and cities required that, for Hubei people to go in, in addition to a health certificate, they must also provide the local community’s acceptance certification (to accept the Hubei people to live in the local area). However, it is hard for Hubei people to obtain such a certificate.

Media also reported that buses carrying Hubei people from cities of low coronavirus risk were told, when they arrived at their destination city at other provinces, to go back home. Some people were forced to sleep in the bus. Some were even told to use plastic bags when they needed to go to bathroom, so that “they would not get off the bus to spread the virus.”

Beijing has announced that it does not want any people from Hubei (whether they traveled there or lived there) to come to Beijing. Bao Liqun, Deputy General Manager of China Railway’s Wuhan Bureau Group, said that there were nearly 200,000 people stuck in Hubei who needed to go to Beijing.

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