A Hong Kong-based newspaper which publishes editions in San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles has been declared a “foreign agent” by the Department of Justice, reports the Hong Kong Free Press.
Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, those deemed to be promoting foreign influence, must register as a “foreign agent.”
According to Axios, the DOJ has stepped up scrutiny of foreign-owned media as tensions ramp up between the U.S. and China.
The South China Morning Post reports other Chinese media given the same designation are the state news agency Xinhua and television channel CGTN.
Sing Tao has complied with the order, but disputes the designation.
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“[T]he Sing Tao US entities do not believe that this constitutes registerable activity; however, we have checked the ‘yes’ box above based on our understanding that the FARA Unit does not concur with this assessment,” it said in its filing according to the Hong Kong Free Press.
Just this past June, the daughter of a real estate developer in China bought a majority stake in Sing Tao.
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