US government media chief undermines Hong Kong protesters, say officials

Members of both parties excoriate US Agency for Global Media chief Michael Pack for firing some of the government’s top experts in countering Chinese propaganda

‘I believe his actions damaged support during the height of unrest in Hong Kong,’ says Texas Representative Michael McCaul

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Michael Pack is the chief executive of the US Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America and Radio Free Asia. Photo: US Senate

Published: 6:00am, 25 Sep 2020Updated: 6:17am, 25 Sep 2020

Current and former US officials warned that a controversial Trump appointee overseeing the federal government’s media arm has undermined Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement and put activists and protesters there at risk through his acts as head of the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM).

At a House foreign affairs committee hearing on Thursday, members of both parties excoriated USAGM chief Michael Pack for firing some of the US government’s top experts in countering Chinese propaganda, withholding funds for anti-surveillance tools used in authoritarian countries like China, and generally harming American efforts to support the democracy movement in Hong Kong.

“This is not a typical DC policy discussion,” said Texas Representative Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House foreign affairs committee. “I believe his actions damaged support during the height of unrest in Hong Kong. And they are continuing to do so today in Belarus.”

The hearing featured more than three hours of scathing, bipartisan criticism of Pack – a rare example in polarised Washington of the two parties coming together to chastise a Trump appointee, and a telling sign of the solidarity in Congress that has emerged around China in recent years, amid human rights concerns, trade disputes and the coronavirus.

The Voice of America building in Washington in June. Photo: AP

Just one lawmaker at the hearing defended Pack – Pennsylvania Representative Scott Perry, a Republican, who has introduced numerous bills of his own targeting China.