Chinese Communist Party tied to local media outlets

The Chinese Communist Party has close links with nearly three-quarters of Australia’s Chinese-language media outlets.

A pro-government supporter hands out newspapers in front of a Chinese national flag in Hong Kong. Picture: AFP.

The Chinese Communist Party has close links with nearly three-quarters of Australia’s Chinese-language media outlets, allowing Beijing to use them — along with offshore WeChat accounts — to channel propaganda to up to one million Australian Chinese.

New research by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute reveals 17 of 24 Chinese-language outlets in Australia have connections with the CCP through its United Front Work Department overseas influence operation.

Four of the 24 companies were directly owned by the CCP or received financial support from the party.

The ASPI study, by analyst Alex Joske, found the propaganda effect was amplified by WeChat, which is manipulated by the CCP to favour pro-Beijing news while downgrading independent outlets such as the ABC and SBS.

“Today, the sector is dominated by media outlets that are friendly towards the CCP, are active on WeChat, are run by migrants from mainland China and produce content in simplified Chinese characters,” the study found. “Such outlets started to emerge in the early 1990s and have mushroomed since the early 2000s.

“CCP-aligned media in Australia have been involved in a range of concerning activity, including suspected political interference. That reflects the broad scope of ‘united front’ work, which includes promoting Chinese culture, facilitating espionage, encouraging technology transfer and carrying out political mobilisation.”

The study found CCP incentives and coercion had played a role in the ballooning of CCP-influenced media companies in Australia, threatening the advertising revenue of outlets critical of the Chinese party-state.

It found Global CAMG Media, an arm of businessman Tommy Jiang’s media empire, is 60 per cent owned by state-owned CRI through two intermediaries. Another company, Southeast Net Australia, is the Australian online wing of a state-owned media outlet from China’s Fujian Province.

Two Australian media outlets — Australia Pacific Media Group and Nan Hai Culture and Media Group — were identified as receiving indirect support from the CCP’s China News Service, or the UFWD.

“WeChat accounts run by both outlets are registered to a company subordinate to the UFWD, giving the UFWD company administrator control over the accounts,” the study found.

The study found executives from half of the 24 media groups studied had been in United Front groups such as the Australian Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China