Somebody’s got to stand up to China. Lord knows the left holds water for the communist-controlled nation, so that pretty much narrows down the number of people who actually have the guts not to just bend over for China.
There hasn’t been much talk about it, but the Department of State made a move on Friday that ends multiple “cultural exchange” programs with China that were supposedly designed to provide funding for travel between government employees of both China and the U.S.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released a statement on Friday through the State Department's website confirming the “Termination of PRC-Funded Propaganda Programs.” The statement refers to the now-terminated programs as “soft power propaganda tools” “disguised as ‘cultural exchanges.’”
Here’s the statement in full:
Today, the Department of State terminated five programs, disguised as “cultural exchanges,” with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). These programs include the Policymakers Educational China Trip Program, the U.S.-China Friendship Program, the U.S.-China Leadership Exchange Program, and the U.S.-China Transpacific Exchange Program and the Hong Kong Educational and Cultural Program. Such programs, conducted under Section 108A of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act (MECEA), allow U.S. government employees to travel using foreign government funds.
While other programs funded under the auspices of the MECEA are mutually beneficial, the five programs in question are fully funded and operated by the PRC government as soft power propaganda tools. They provide carefully curated access to Chinese Communist Party officials, not to the Chinese people, who do not enjoy freedoms of speech and assembly. The United States welcomes the reciprocal and fair exchange of cultural programs with PRC officials and the Chinese people, but one-way programs such as these are not mutually beneficial.
What?! You mean to tell me that a communist government is actively engaged in propaganda through programs disguised as something they’re not? Get outta here. I don’t believe it (I totally do).
The communist Chinese government is currently a plague on the rest of the world. They seemingly have no interests besides placing the rest of the world under their authoritarian thumb. And they have yet to receive any serious consequences for the action of — intentionally or not — releasing a pandemic-inducing crisis into society.
This should be the tip of the iceberg in terms of the repercussions the Chinese government should receive for their actions — or lack thereof.
H/T: Fox News