[Correspondent Diary] Regret of US Media and Academia That Hid Support for China

New York Times Headquarters.

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] It has been revealed that the U.S. media and educational sectors have been quietly accepting sponsorships from China.

Recently, WashingtonBeacon.com, a U.S. media-related outlet, reported that The New York Times deleted advertorial articles sponsored by the Chinese government. A Times representative stated, "We decided earlier this year not to accept advertorial articles from Chinese state-run media such as China Daily." This means that even The New York Times, a leading American news organization, accepted money to publish promotional articles related to China.

While The Times has published critical articles about China, it has also run over 200 propaganda articles supporting the Chinese government over the past decade. These articles have been criticized for encouraging human rights abuses in China. A notable example is the promotional video advertisement about the Xinjiang region, where repression of the Uyghur population is taking place.

According to WashingtonBeacon.com, China Daily has placed advertisements in mainstream U.S. media outlets over the past ten years. In effect, they used advertising to spread Chinese Communist Party propaganda to the American public.

In exchange for advertorial articles, American newspapers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal received millions of dollars. Regional newspapers like the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and Houston Chronicle received hundreds of thousands of dollars in sponsorships to print and distribute China Daily within the United States. This practice has been carried out quietly and unnoticed for about 30 years.

There is also an example demonstrating China Daily’s blatant attempt to access mainstream American society: China Daily is delivered to the offices of all members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Republican Congressman Jim Banks welcomed The Times’ severance of ties with China Daily and its detailed coverage of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, stating, "I hope other media outlets will value American principles over communist bribes."

The U.S. political sphere is also pushing for scrutiny of donations received by major universities from China. According to Voice of America, recently Republican Representatives James Comer, Jim Jordan, and Virginia Fox sent letters to the presidents of Harvard University, New York University, Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago, and University of Delaware, demanding that all donation records from China, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Russia since January 2015 be provided to the President. The reason is that large donations from these countries to major universities pose a national security threat.

The letters specify that Harvard University received $110 million through 31 donations and contracts from China, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Russia. University of Pennsylvania received $62 million, New York University $42 million, and Yale, University of Chicago, and University of Delaware each received $30 million.

Many of these universities have failed to report a significant portion of donations received from China and other countries, so the exact scale of donations remains unclear. In the case of Harvard and Yale, it was revealed that they failed to report donations totaling $375 million to the Department of Education.

China’s donations to major universities are also interpreted as attempts to expand influence. Charles Lieber, the world-renowned chemist and professor of chemistry and biology at Harvard University, was arrested for secretly receiving $158,000 annually in expenses and $50,000 in salary from China. It was also confirmed that he received over $1.5 million under the pretext of establishing a research institute at Wuhan University of Technology.

The U.S. exposure of China’s infiltration is only just beginning. Starting with building firewalls against China in the information technology sector, the exposure of Chinese influence across politics, academia, and the media?the mainstream society at large?is only beginning.

Following domestic measures, the U.S. is expanding its front against China to allied countries. Despite repeated warnings from the U.S., a certain Korean telecommunications company used Huawei’s 5G communication equipment from China and is now uneasy after receiving a 'warning' from the U.S. This issue, which could escalate from a single company to a national crisis, has drawn criticism for the complacent judgment made.

At a time when U.S.-China tensions are escalating to extremes, it is crucial to avoid creating cases that threaten national security for personal or corporate gain. Of course, this applies to our government as well.