US designates 4 more Chinese official media outlets as 'foreign missions'
WASHINGTON DC: The US has designated four more top state-run Chinese media houses as "foreign missions," terming them as "propaganda" outlets "controlled" by the ruling Communist Party of China, a move that could further escalate tensions between the two countries.
The four Chinese media outlets designated as foreign missions on Monday are China Central Television, China News Service, the People's Daily and the Global Times, taking the total number to nine.
This could add up to the increasing tensions between the US and China as President Donald Trump has repeatedly blamed Beijing for the Coronavirus pandemic that has wreaked havoc across the world and accused Beijing of suppressing the details of the contagion.
The US is the worst-affected country by the virus. According to Johns Hopkins University data, there are over 2.3 million Coronavirus cases in America with more than 120,000 deaths. However, China has denied all allegations levelled by the US on the outbreak of the pandemic.
These entities are not independent news organisations. They are effectively controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, CCP, also known as propaganda outlets, State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said.
This follows the February 18 designation of Xinhua News Agency, China Global Television Network, China
Radio International, China Daily Distribution Corporation and Hai Tian Development USA.
These nine entities all meet the definition of a foreign mission under the Foreign Missions Act, which is to say that they are substantially owned or effectively controlled by a foreign government.
In this case, they are effectively controlled by the government of the People's Republic of China, Ortagus said.