The US has designated five top Chinese media outlets including the Xinhua news agency as foreign diplomatic missions, saying their journalists act as propaganda agents of the government in Beijing and require greater monitoring.
The rules will require Xinhua, China Radio International, China Global Television Network and the distributors of China Daily and People’s Daily — China Daily Distribution Corporation and Hai Tian Development USA — to register the names of US employees, declare any property holdings and seek approval to add any more.
“The fact of the matter is each and every one of these entities does work for the Chinese government,” a senior state department official told reporters on Tuesday, describing them as organs of a one-party state propaganda apparatus that “take their orders directly from the top”.