US Congress urged to make Chinese state media register as foreign agents

All staff of Chinese state-run media outlets in the United States should be required to register with the government as foreign agents as they may be supporting Chinese intelligence gathering and “information warfare”, congressional advisers said on Wednesday.

The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission said that Beijing has rapidly expanded its overseas media presence to promote a positive view of the rising Asian nation and the ruling Communist Party, even as it has tightened its control over media and online content at home and increased restrictions on foreign journalists in China.

The bipartisan commission recommends that Congress strengthen the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, which requires registration by people or companies disseminating information in the US on behalf of foreign governments, political parties and other “foreign principals”. The law is applied to foreign lobbying efforts, but the Justice Department has also required registration by media outlets funded by foreign governments.

While some state-run Chinese media outlets do register, the commission says the law is applied unevenly. It calls for all staff of state-run outlets to be registered as they are not part of an open press.

“They should all have to register under FARA,” said Larry Wortzel, who sits on the 12-member commission. “Since 1978, the US cannot use the press for intelligence collection or perception management by law, and that’s not the case with China.”

The commission is mandated to provide recommendations to Congress for legislative and administrative action, but its proposals do not carry legal weight. Its members are selected by leaders of both parties in the House and Senate. They include former US lawmakers and ex-US government, military and intelligence officials.