Thread by @WilliamYang120

A deep-dive piece from @BBCWorld about the growing number of foreign vloggers suspected of cooperating with #China's official media in propaganda campaigns related to #Xinjiang and other areas. bbc.com/news/world-asi…

The vloggers include British expatriates Barrie Jones, Jason Lightfoot and father-and-son team Lee and Oli Barrett, who use their platforms to comment on the West's alleged "lies" and China's government policies.

They have subsequently gone on to appear in videos for Chinese state broadcaster CGTN.

Earlier videos on their personal channels focus on navigating daily life within China. More recent videos, however, have become overtly political; they staunchly defend China's rhetoric on topics ranging from Covid-19, to Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

Expat vloggers like the Barretts and Jason Lightfoot, however, appear to be in a comparatively privileged position with significant access, and in some cases facilitated by local officials or state media in China.

The Barretts have attended multiple government-sponsored events.

In one of his videos, Lee Barrett comments that organisations like state-owned China Radio International will "offer to pay for the transport, the flights [and] accommodation" in exchange for him and his son commenting on their trip in state media.

In an email to the BBC, the Barretts strenuously denied they post disinformation on behalf of the Chinese government or being paid for content.

Lee Barrett has been listed as a "global stringer" on CGTN's website in recent videos on Xinjiang - that is, somebody who reports for the broadcaster, but is not a staff employee.

Jason Lightfoot is also on its list of stringers. The station billed him as a vlogger critical of "distorted reports" by Western media outlets.

Mr Lightfoot recently appeared in a number of CGTN videos alongside multiple staff reporters on a visit to Hainan.

CGTN says in one such video that Mr Lightfoot "is grateful to CGTN for giving him the experience to explore Hainan" and that CGTN staff and expat vloggers "enjoyed working together, producing livestreams and videos as a team".

A video featuring Barrie Jones was not only uploaded to CGTN's YouTube account, it was used by China's foreign ministry in a daily government press briefing.

When asked about his journalism experience, Mr Jones told the BBC "where and when" he worked as a journalist "is not your concern".

He stood by his claim to have worked for a newspaper but declined to give any further information. He also denied being "paid, prompted, or coerced in any way".

Mr Jones, who also regularly promotes conspiracy theories, denied that his videos had become more political and described claims that he is part of a disinformation campaign as "laughable".

"Neither China nor the Chinese government pay me to do what I do. The truth is, if they offered I would accept!"