A Reuters Special Report
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In August, foreign ministers from 10 nations blasted
China for building artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea. As media
around the world covered the diplomatic clash, a radio station that serves the
most powerful city in America had a distinctive take on the news.
Located outside Washington, D.C., WCRW radio made no
mention of China’s provocative island project. Instead, an analyst explained
that tensions in the region were due to unnamed “external forces” trying “to
insert themselves into this part of the world using false claims.”
Behind WCRW’s coverage is a fact that’s never broadcast:
The Chinese government controls much of what airs on the station, which can be
heard on Capitol Hill and at the White House.
A Reuters investigation spanning four continents has
identified at least 33 radio stations in 14 countries that are part of a global
radio web structured in a way that obscures its majority shareholder: state-run
China Radio International, or CRI. WCRW is just one of a growing number of
stations across the world through which Beijing is broadcasting China-friendly
news and programming.
American officials charged with monitoring foreign media
ownership and propaganda said they were unaware of the Chinese-controlled radio
operation inside the United States until contacted by Reuters.
Public records show that CRI’s U.S. Chinese-American
business partner and his companies haven’t registered as foreign agents under
the law, called the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA.
Justice Department national security spokesman Marc
Raimondi and FCC spokesman Neil Grace declined to comment.
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