A Beijing-aligned political warfare network sponsored 54 American journalists through a program explicitly designed to “improve” coverage of China and generate “positive stories” about Beijing.
The pay-for-play-style arrangement provided airfare, hotels, meals and privileged access to Chinese ministries, state media, government-selected companies and senior officials inside the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a central institution in the Chinese Communist foreign influence and espionage apparatus. The objective was not simply to show reporters China. It was to change what they told the American people about it.
The 54 Journalists
Contemporaneous titles are taken from the Better Hong Kong Foundation’s official delegation records from 2010 through 2018. Current positions are included where particularly consequential.
1. Saeed Ahmed: supervising news editor at CNN. Now: vice president of news for digital platforms at the Associated Press, leading APNews, social media and other direct-to-audience platforms.
2. Robert Little: senior investigative editor at NPR. Now: leads NPR’s investigations team across its broadcast and digital platforms.
3. Stephen Stromberg: editorial writer at The Washington Post. Now: New York Times opinion editor for politics and economics.
4. Juliet Lapidos: staff editor at The New York Times. Now: deputy editor at The Atlantic.
5. Autumn Brewington: op-ed page editor at The Washington Post.
6. Holly Yeager: Middle East and Asia editor at The Washington Post.
7. Carrie Halperin: producer for CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS.
8. Elizabeth Ralph: deputy editor of Politico Magazine. Now: ideas editor at the San Francisco Standard, where she leads opinion and ideas coverage. She previously became editor-in-chief of Politico Magazine.
9. Doyle McManus: Washington columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
10. Rebecca Davis: senior video producer at NBC News.
11. Kevin Beesley: Asia editor at NPR.
12. Leslie Norton: Asia editor at Barron’s. Now: editor-at-large at Morningstar.
13. Brian Wingfield: energy and trade reporter at Bloomberg.
14. Valerie Volcovici: correspondent at Reuters. Now: Reuters correspondent covering energy, climate and environmental policy.
15. Diane Bartz: reporter at Reuters.
16. Alan Wirzbicki: editorial-page writer and editor at The Boston Globe.
17. Alexander Kingsbury: deputy ideas editor at The Boston Globe.
18. Michael Freedman: senior editor at Newsweek.
19. John Schoen: senior producer at MSNBC.com.
20. Adam Behsudi: trade reporter at Politico.
21. Michael Stratford: reporter at Politico. Now: covers economic policy, financial regulation, the Treasury Department and student debt for Politico.
22. Mariana Keller: senior video producer at NBC News.
23. Jake Heller: producer and host at NBC News.
24. Jesus Ayala: producer at ABC News.
25. Oren Dorell: foreign-affairs correspondent at USA Today.
26. Joshua Keating: staff writer at Slate. Now: senior correspondent at Vox covering foreign policy and international conflict.
27. Evelyn Cheng: staff writer at CNBC. Now: CNBC’s Beijing correspondent covering China’s economy and financial markets.
28. Mary Childs: senior reporter at Barron’s.
29. Benjamin Bartenstein: emerging-markets reporter at Bloomberg.
30. Jessica Schulberg: foreign-affairs reporter at HuffPost.
31. Alexander Kaufman: reporter at HuffPost.
32. Don Lee: economics reporter for the Los Angeles Times and Tribune Washington Bureau.
33. Alexander Travelli: Asia online editor at The Economist.
34. Erica Grieder: Southwest correspondent at The Economist.
35. Roya Wolverson: senior writer at Time.
36. Kopin Tan: senior editor at Barron’s.
37. Sandra Ward: senior editor at Barron’s.
38. Joe Schatz: senior writer at Congressional Quarterly.
39. Patricia Hill: chief economic correspondent at The Washington Times.
40. Jeffrey Chu: articles editor at Fast Company.
41. Nathan Bomey: reporter at the Detroit Free Press.
42. Daniel Beekman: reporter at The Seattle Times.
43. Lomi Kriel: reporter at the Houston Chronicle.
44. Andy Curliss: state-government editor at The News & Observer.
45. Janet Cho: business reporter at The Plain Dealer.
46. Liz Jones: reporter at KUOW Public Radio.
47. Robert Chaney: staff writer at the Missoulian.
48. David Whiting: Page One columnist at the Orange County Register.
49. Marc Stewart: reporter and substitute anchor at KMGH-TV, Denver’s ABC affiliate.
50. William Luckie: news anchor and reporter at KLTV.
51. Pia Lopez: associate editor at The Sacramento Bee.
52. Robert Ballenger: editor and producer at NPR.
53. Tom Waseleski: editorial-page editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
54. Karin Caifa: producer at CNN Newsource.
The “Pay” And The “Play”
Compensation often came in the form of:
Airfare
Hotels
Program-related meals
Ground transportation
Curated government access
Meetings unavailable to ordinary reporters
Introductions to senior Chinese officials, executives and institutions
At least some editions of the fellowship covered virtually every major expense. Applicants were required to have at least five years of professional experience, and the program deliberately sought senior journalists from influential American media organizations.
The Better Hong Kong Foundation said it “sponsored and organized” the trips. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs helped arrange meetings with senior central and local government officials.
The journalists were subsequently brought together with Chinese counterparts to discuss:
“How media coverage of each country can be improved.”
The foundation’s later materials became even more explicit. It said its delegations invited foreign officials, think-tank representatives and journalists to tell:
“Positive stories of Hong Kong and mainland China.”
Journalists Were Carefully Selected
The surviving application materials show that at least some participants applied through the East-West Center.
Applicants submitted professional credentials and were expected to explain what they hoped to learn from the program.
Participants met or visited institutions including China’s Foreign Ministry, Commerce Ministry, Finance Ministry, National Development and Reform Commission, People’s Bank of China, China Investment Corporation, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, China Public Diplomacy Association, Global Times, CCTV, People’s Daily Online, Xinhua and selected Chinese technology companies.
In a predecessor edition of the fellowship, an official from the Information Department of China’s Foreign Ministry accompanied the journalists throughout the mainland portion of their trip. The itinerary included the State Council Information Office, Xinhua, Chinese ministries and official banquets.
The State Council Information Office is one of the principal entities responsible for directing the Chinese government’s foreign-facing propaganda work.
This was not independent reporting conducted beyond the government’s view.
It was state-curated exposure to the version of China Beijing wanted American journalists to see.
The CPPCC Connection
The Better Hong Kong Foundation’s relationship with the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference is central to understanding the operation.
The CPPCC is not simply a ceremonial parliament or harmless civic organization.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission describes it as a major coordinating institution in the Communist Party’s United Front system. It is used to organize cooperation with business figures, intellectuals, civic leaders and other influential people outside the Party’s formal ranks.
The Commission says CPPCC delegates receive direction about how Party policies should be presented to domestic and foreign audiences and can “serve as proxies for CCP interests.”
The Better Hong Kong Foundation:
Partnered with the CPPCC’s Shanghai committee.
Reported its activities to Chinese central-government officials.
Repeatedly placed American journalists in meetings with CPPCC vice chairmen.
Introduced delegations to former Hong Kong chief executives Tung Chee-hwa and C.Y. Leung while they occupied senior CPPCC positions.
Operated alongside Tung’s China-United States Exchange Foundation, which separately sought favorable American media coverage of China.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission says United Front operations seek to “co-opt and neutralize” opposition to the CCP. Its external propaganda apparatus seeks to “control international perceptions of China” and increase Beijing’s power over global narratives.
The same U.S. government commission warns that overseas United Front operations can involve "political influence, intelligence collection, and technology transfer.”
“We Deliver One Strong Message”
The Better Hong Kong Foundation’s own chief executive described its overseas influence work in terms that sound almost identical to the U.S. government’s definition of United Front operations.
In 2005, George Yuen called one of the foundation’s foreign influence delegations a:
“United front.”
Yuen explained:
“We deliver one strong message.”
The foundation celebrated the operation for conveying a “positive message to the international community.”
The Foundation Openly Celebrated Changing A Journalist’s Story
The foundation has provided its own case study of what it considered success.
In 1995, Fortune magazine published its infamous cover story, “The Death of Hong Kong,” predicting decline after Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty.
During a 2007 American influence tour, the foundation’s representatives briefed Fortune journalist Sheridan Prasso about Hong Kong’s development.
Prasso subsequently published:
“Oops! Hong Kong Is Hardly Dead.”
The foundation publicly celebrated the article for acknowledging that Fortune’s earlier assessment had been wrong. Its own account presented the reversal as a successful result of its media outreach.
Joshua Keating participated in the 2013 delegation as a Slate staff writer.
His fellow travelers included CNN supervising editor Saeed Ahmed, NPR Asia editor Kevin Beesley, Reuters correspondent Valerie Volcovici, Bloomberg reporter Brian Wingfield and Boston Globe editorial writer Alan Wirzbicki.
The itinerary brought the journalists to the government-selected Nanchang High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, along with meetings involving China’s Foreign and Commerce ministries, the China Public Diplomacy Association, Global Times and Baidu.
While the sponsored trip was still underway, Keating published:
“China’s City of the Future.”
Writing from Nanchang, Keating praised the city’s “immense changes” and the “optimistic spirit” behind its development.
He concluded that the world should pay greater attention to China’s ambitious city-building efforts.
The accessible republication identified Keating as a Slate writer.
It did not tell readers that Keating was visiting Nanchang as part of a delegation sponsored by the Better Hong Kong Foundation and supported by China’s Foreign Ministry.
More than a decade later, Keating published another strikingly favorable headline about Beijing’s effect on the global economy:
“The Mystery of How China Is Keeping Down the World’s Oil Prices.”
The subheadline told American readers:
“Your gas could be a lot more expensive right now. Thank Xi Jinping.”
Doyle McManus participated in the 2010 delegation as the Los Angeles Times’ Washington columnist.
During and immediately after the trip, McManus published a series of columns explaining China to American readers.
In one, he relayed Chinese officials’ position that Beijing felt threatened and cornered by the United States.
When China engaged in aggressive behavior, McManus wrote, Chinese leaders believed they were:
“Simply defending their self-interest as they see it.”
He concluded:
“They’re just as scared of the future as we are.”
Another column acknowledged censorship, corruption and one-party rule but emphasized “how adaptable China’s hierarchical system of authority has proved.”
Leslie Norton joined the 2010 delegation as Barron’s Asia editor.
Within weeks, Barron’s published her article:
“China’s Sure Bet.”
The story emphasized China’s rapidly expanding overseas investments in strategic commodities such as oil, copper and iron. Years later, Norton published another article with an even more dramatic headline:
“China Will Be on Top of the New World Order.”
That is more than cultural exchange.
It is a pay-for-play-style foreign propaganda operation aimed at the American information system.
Beijing did not need to purchase every article directly. It paid to cultivate the reporters and editors deciding which stories Americans saw, which Chinese officials they heard from and which version of China reached their newspapers, television screens and phones.
The most effective propaganda does not carry a Chinese government byline.
It carries an American one.
Incredibly insightful. Shocking to see how brazen many of these folks seem to be. Nicely done exposing these issues.
Thank you, Ms. Winters, for all the excellent investigative journalism!
So this information is beyond disturbing on different levels-- it shows collusion between the established media in our country with the CCP leadership. in China.
But what is even creepier and more disturbing is the fact that it would not have been possible for these treasonous American journalists to climb into bed with their Chinese Communist benefactors if our own domestic and military intelligence leaders--I'm talking White House Cabinet and Pentagon level-- had not already climbed into bed with the enemy long before these journalists did!
Obama's Administration, Pentagon and CIA set the stage for this backstabbing back during Obama's first and second terms, and then Trump's own military chief of staff placed a direct call to the highest level of the CCP during the last days of Trump's administration to rat Trump out about his military plans!
And then the historic collusion between the CCP and Joe Biden, Hunter, and others during Biden's 2020-2024 term (Obama's 3rd term) set the stage for ushering in the CCP through the back door of this country.
So it's obvious that Brennan's CIA, Military Intel agencies, and State Department, approved and encouraged this situation with the journalists.
In conclusion, the information you have exposed should be included in one of the several "Overt Acts" of a RICO indictment against the Obama and Biden administrations. All of these journalists, their bosses, and company CEOs should be co-defendants, and all should be held without bond as "flight risks" at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in total seclusion and solitary confinement as enemies of the state.