Exclusive | Journalists with Chinese state broadcaster CGTN in US denied passes to cover Congress
- Authorities deny CGTN America’s application for renewal of credentials that give reporters access to press galleries in Senate, House of Representatives
- China Global Television Network employee says lack of credentials will ‘damage credibility’
The media has become the latest battleground in the conflict between the United States and China – after trade and technology – as journalists at the US arm of China’s state broadcaster were denied passes to cover Capitol Hill, a result of Washington’s requirement that some reporters there register as foreign agents.
The Radio and Television Correspondents Association (RTCA) denied China Global Television Network (CGTN) America’s application for renewal of the credentials that give media access to the press galleries of the Senate and the House of Representatives, said Paul Orgel, the association’s executive committee chairman. CGTN is the international division of Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
“CGTN was denied for renewal of credentials based on it registering under” the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), Orgel said.
“We’re taking action based on the guidelines that we have, the mission that we have, and the rules of the gallery clearly state that if you are a foreign agent, you cannot have credentials.”
FARA was passed by the US federal government in 1938 to monitor the operations of overseas lobbyists and propagandists. The Senate Rules Committee requires the RTCA to ask all press gallery applicants whether they have registered under FARA and to deny credentials to any that have.