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.