Nine Newspapers quietly drops controversial China Daily ‘propaganda’ insert

A group of major newspapers has quietly dumped a monthly eight-page insert described as Chinese Communist Party “propaganda”.

Nine Newspapers has quietly stopped running a monthly paid insert that had been criticised as Chinese Communist Party “propaganda”.

The eight-page “China Watch” liftout, produced by the CCP’s official English-language mouthpiece China Daily, had been published each month in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review, as part of a deal struck under previous owners Fairfax Media in 2016.

The Guardian first reported on Wednesday that Nine Newspapers had decided not to renew the lucrative contract six months ago, following similar decisions by media organisations around the world as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, including the UK’s Daily Telegraph in April.

A Nine spokesman declined to comment when contacted by news.com.au.

Nine’s political editor Chris Uhlmann had publicly criticised his own employer for running the insert, tweeting a picture in February with the caption, “Always exciting when the monthly China Daily insert appears in The Sydney Morning Herald. As it so rightly says, ‘All You Need to Know’.”

Always exciting when the monthly China Daily insert appears in the Sydney Morning Herald. As it so rightly says “All You Need to Know”… pic.twitter.com/kbkOhKowvH

— Chris Uhlmann (@CUhlmann) February 13, 2020

Uhlmann told The Australian newspaper at the time that the insert was “extremely disturbing”.

“Since the moment the decision was made (in 2016) to have the China Daily insert in The Sydney Morning Herald, I’ve made it clear that I’ve found it an extremely disturbing development that Communist Party propaganda has the apparent endorsement of an Australian media organisation,” he said.

“I said that before I joined Nine and I haven’t changed my opinion.”

The China Watch liftout heavily promoted the Chinese government.

In February, one story headlined “China’s fight to contain virus wins wide acclaim” praised the Chinese government’s COVID-19 ­responses. “China has taken the most comprehensive and rigorous containment and mitigation measures, and many go well beyond the requirements of the International Health Regulations,” it said.

Nine Newspapers has dropped its "China Watch" paid supplement. Picture: Chris Uhlmann/Twitter

According to The Guardian, when Fairfax Media began carrying the liftout in 2016, the company justified the move by saying it was commercial printing arrangement for revenue and noted other newspapers around the world also carried it, including The Washington Post and Le Figaro.

The liftout included the disclaimer that “this supplement, prepared by China Daily, People’s Republic of China, did not involve the news or editorial departments of The Sydney Morning Herald”.

It comes as relations between Canberra and Beijing plunge to new lows, with the federal government “increasingly concerned” over a flurry of trade attacks after lamb became the latest product sanctioned by China.

Last month, a senior CCP official sparked a diplomatic stoush by tweeting a doctored image of an Australian soldier holding a bloody knife to the throat of an Afghan child. Prime Minister Scott Morrison slammed the image as “offensive” and “outrageous”, and demanded an official apology.