China contacts U.S. over news outlets' registration

In this Feb. 19, 2016, file photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, shakes hands with staff members at the control room of China Central Television (CCTV) in Beijing.  (Ma Zhancheng/Xinhua via AP, File)
In this Feb. 19, 2016, file photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, shakes hands with staff members at the control room of China Central Television (CCTV) in Beijing. (Ma Zhancheng/Xinhua via AP, File)

BEIJING -- China has reached out to the U.S. over reports that the Department of Justice has ordered two top Chinese state-run news outlets to register as foreign agents, a spokesman said Wednesday, adding that Beijing opposed "politicizing" the role of the media.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijing had "contacted and communicated" with the U.S. side over the issue, but gave no details.

"Media serve as an important bridge and link to help the people from different countries to better understand and communicate with each other," Geng told reporters at a daily briefing. "We should provide convenience for media's normal works instead of posing obstacles, still less politicizing their role."

The Wall Street Journal said Tuesday that the Xinhua News Agency and the China Global Television Network, the international arm of state broadcaster China Central Television, had been told in recent weeks to register as foreign agents amid growing scrutiny of efforts by overseas media organizations to influence U.S. public opinion. The demand was also reported by Bloomberg News.

Registering with the Foreign Agents Registration Act would put Xinhua and the China Global Television Network in the same legal category as lobbyists working for overseas entities and could cause them to lose their congressional press credentials, as happened to the U.S. affiliate of Russia's state-run RT television network, the Journal reported.

In January, a letter from a bipartisan group of senators including Marco Rubio and Patrick Leahy called on the Justice Department to provide information on state-run Chinese media operating in the U.S., including Xinhua, which is directly under the control of the State Council, China's Cabinet, and exists to produce news reports, distribute propaganda and collect intelligence.

Chinese media is almost entirely state-run and heavily censored, while the country maintains strict limits on the presence and ability of foreign outlets to report and travel in the country.

Another state outlet, China Daily, has registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act through its U.S. distribution company.

A Section on 09/20/2018

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