Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Monday 22 october 2018

Chinese broadens its propaganda drive to heartland America

By JOSH FUNK whose caucuses serve as
AP Business Writer the first contest in every
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Chi- presidential election year.
na's propaganda machine Trump tweeted a photo
has taken aim at American of the "China Watch" edi-
soybean farmers as part of tion that ran in the Register,
its high-stakes trade war calling it propaganda and
with the Trump administra- asserting that Beijing was
tion. trying to interfere in U.S.
The publication last month elections.
of a four-page advertising Chinese officials defended
section in the Des Moines the advertising section and
Register opened a new said it didn't violate any
battle line in China's effort U.S. laws. Geng Shuang, a
to break the administra- spokesman for the foreign
tion's resolve. U.S. farmers ministry, said the Chinese
are a key political con- government doesn't inter-
stituency for Trump, and fere in other countries' inter-
Beijing has imposed tariffs nal affairs or elections.
on American soybeans as "I think there has been a
retaliation for Trump's tariffs long-standing effort to influ-
on hundreds of billions in ence Americans across the
Chinese imports. United States," said Sarah
China regularly dissemi- Cook, a research analyst
nates propaganda in the This Friday, Oct. 19, 2018, photo shows a copy of the four-page advertising section Chinawatch with the Freedom House
West through its China Dai- along with a copy of The Des Moines Register in Des Moines, Iowa. watchdog group. "Just this
ly newspaper to try to influ- Associated Press particular form of influence
ence public opinion. But — the China Watch paid
the advertorial in the Regis- "Book tells of Xi's fun days in onomics website. ments directly to American supplement — may only
ter was unusual for deploy- Iowa" to Kung Fu skill helps Many experts say they farmers, whose crops have be appearing in places like
ing not a national publica- light up life path" and "Chi- doubt the propaganda been hit by Beijing's retalia- Iowa now."
tion in New York or Wash- na seeks pacts on robotics," drive in the United States tory tariffs. Other countries, like Saudi
ington but a newspaper in the message was a not- will likely succeed. Chinese "This is the norm for the Arabia and Taiwan, typi-
the farm state of Iowa. very-subtle one about the officials are used to oper- Chinese propaganda ma- cally hire public relations
"It's the first time I've ever friendly way Beijing wants ating at home, where the chine," Chao said. firms and place ads to try
seen anything like this in a to be seen in the farm belt. central government con- Chao noted that when a to improve their images, in
heartland city," said Matt Ken Doctor, a longtime trols all major media outlets. Chinese dissident won the contrast to China's more
Schrader, who edits the media analyst, noted that "U.S. farmers and manufac- 2010 Nobel Peace Prize — direct approach of placing
China Brief newsletter for newspapers have been turers are smart enough to chosen by the Norwegian ads in newspapers or post-
the Jamestown Founda- struggling to replace reve- understand their self-inter- Nobel Committee and an ing videos online. The 2016
tion, a Washington re- nue lost from declining sub- est," said Elizabeth Econo- embarrassment for Beijing elections brought attention
search institute that moni- scriptions and print adver- my of the Council on For- — China responded by to foreign influence after
tors China's actions. tisements moving online. eign Relations. "They don't placing propaganda ads U.S. intelligence agencies
The Iowa newspaper sec- He suggested that when need a Chinese newspa- in Scandinavian newspa- concluded that Russia had
tion was explicitly labeled publications run propagan- per insert to tell them how pers. In addition to its con- meddled in the elections.
a product of China Daily, da like the "China Watch" to think about the relation- nection to the tariffs China Federal prosecutors have
China's official English lan- sections, they should take ship between tariffs and imposed on American soy- charged a Russian firm with
guage newspaper. The ar- care to be fully explicit their exports to China." beans and other crops, interfering through bogus
ticles were clearly geared about the source. Stanley Chao, a business Iowa is also home to Terry Facebook posts.
to try to soften the image "I'd like to see newspapers consultant who has written Branstad, a former gover- It's not yet clear whether or
of China and its president, that run this include an edi- a book called "Selling to nor of the state who is now how much Beijing will con-
Xi Jinping. With headlines tor's note to be transpar- China," said it's not entirely the U.S. ambassador to Bei- tinue to try to shape public
ranging from "Dispute: Fruit ent about what this is," said surprising that China would jing. And in the past, Presi- sentiment in the farm belt
of a president's folly" and Doctor, who runs the News- try to take its trade argu- dent Xi has visited Iowa, states.q