New @ASPI_ICPC report by me, Lin Li, @AlexandraPasc_ @nathanattrill finds high levels of CCP influence in Australia's Chinese-language media, and serious concerns about how WeChat is contributing to that. (Wonderful cover art by @badiucao) aspi.org.au/report/influen…
CCP control/influence over Chinese media here has long been assumed to be high, but the extent and mechanisms of it haven't been survey before. Our report looked at 24 media companies, 4/24 funded by CCP, 12/14 tied to UF groups, 17/24 otherwise connected to CCP
Sydney's Nan Hai Culture & Media Group had some of the strongest CCP connections. Its WeChat account is Australia's 3rd most popular, but it's registered to a United Front Work Dept company. Its office building is owned by a joint venture between Nanhai's owner and UFWD figures. 
Nan Hai, as well as many other popular outlets, either didn't report on or had one-sided pro-CCP coverage of incidents like the AFP raids on John Zhang and Shaoquett Moselmane in June. E.g. Sydney Today removed paragraphs from its article on the raids that mentioned the UFWD.
WeChat is accelerating CCP influence through its censorship and account restrictions. Australian-registered WeChat accounts can only post *four times a month*, compared to daily for PRC ones. So nearly every outlet we looked at was registered in China, subjected to PRC law
Lots more interesting findings and numerous recommendations made in this report. Hope you'll have a read. s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/ad-aspi/2020-1…
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