Several Chinese Communist Party-linked groups – including the regime’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs – have subsidized trips to China for American journalists in an effort to “enhance” their understanding of U.S.-China relations since the 1990’s…

Among the outlets sending journalists to participate in the trips are The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Public Radio (NPR), CNN, Reuters, POLITICO, and more…

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Inaugurated in 2010, the program expanded upon a 1996 initaitive “supported” by the Chinese Communist Party’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs that granted free trips to China for journalists from mainstream American media outlets.

The effort is closely tied to the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), a foreign influence group operating under the Chinese government’s United Work Front Department.

The United Front, according to the U.S.-China Security and Economic Review Commission, aims “to co-opt and neutralize sources of potential opposition” to the Chinese regime and “influence foreign governments and other actors to take actions or adopt positions supportive of Beijing’s preferred policies.”

In practice, CUSEF has sponsored trips to China for mainstream corporate media outlets in exchange for “favorable coverage.” As revealed through Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) filings with the Department of Justice, the group’s explicit goal of the trips is to “effectively disseminate positive messages to the media, key influencers, and opinion leaders, and the general public.”

Sponsors of the “China-United States Journalism Exchange” are also closely tied to CUSEF, as American journalists participating in the trips have also repeatedly met with CUSEF Founding Chairman Tung Chee-Hwa…

Details surrounding program participants, sponsors, and activities were wiped from the East-West Center’s website in late 2017.

The now-deleted program description explains how a cohort of American journalists travel to China and a Chinese Communist Party-run media cohort travels America before meeting to “exchange opinions on how media coverage of each country can be improved”:…

The trips are subsidized by the aforementioned Chinese Communist Party-linked sponsors:

The program covers all air transportation, lodging, and program-related ground transportation and meals for participating journalists…

The following lists identify the journalists – from outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Public Radio (NPR), CNN, and Reuters – participating in the trips.

2011 Delegation:

• Mr. Rob Ballenger, Swing Editor/Producer, National Public Radio, Washington, DCMs.
• Ms. Patrice Hill, Chief Economic Correspondent, Washington Times, Washington, DC
• Mr. Joe Schatz, Senior Writer, Congressional Quarterly, Washington, DC
• Mr. Kopin Tan, Senior Editor, Barron’s Magazine, New York, New York
• Mr. David Whiting, Page One Columnist, The Orange County Register, Santa Ana, California
• Mrs. Roya Wolverson, Senior Writer, Time Magazine, New York, New York
• Ms. Holly Yeager, Middle East and Asia Editor, The Washington Post, Washington, DC

2012 Delegation:

• Mr. Nathan Bomey, Reporter, Detroit Free Press, Detroit, Michigan
• Ms. Autumn Brewington, Op-Ed Page Editor, The Washington Post, Washington, DC
• Ms. Janet Cho, Business Reporter, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio
• Ms. Juliet Lapidos, Staff Editor, The New York Times, New York City, New York
• Mr. Tom Weseleski, Editorial Page Editor, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania…

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(Excerpted from The National Pulse. Article by Natalie Winters. Photo Credit: The Climate Reality Project/Unsplash).