According to the Washington Free Beacon, the tech firm inked deals with the China Daily and the People's Daily newspapers. The two outlets are widely considered to be major propaganda arms of the CCP. China Daily is published by the CCP's Central Propaganda Department, while People's Daily is the official newspaper of the CCP's Central Committee.
Writing for the Free Beacon, senior investigative reporter Joseph Simonson said the Microsoft deals have "not been widely reported outside of China, nor have the financial terms been disclosed." In response, a Microsoft spokeswoman said the partnerships with the two newspapers "had expired years ago and were not renewed."
However, critics expressed great concerns. They described such deals as "dangerous just by the virtue of the fact that they existed." Moreover, the fact that Microsoft inked the deals at all is "a major win for the CCP." (Related: INFILTRATION ALERT: CCP-linked media company running influence campaigns across US news websites.)
"It’s kind of an 'angel deal with the devil' scenario," said Heritage Foundation research associate Jake Denton. "Microsoft loves the idea of access to the Asia market but it comes with a catch. In this case, it’s helping the Chinese government’s propaganda campaigns."
"These are major propaganda outlets that publish outright falsehoods attacking the ideas of democracy – the very concepts that strengthen our society. And yet, an American company is working to spread this," said Tech Integrity Project Policy Director Geoffrey Cain. "The purpose of all these [partnerships] is to show the Chinese Communist Party that [Microsoft is] firmly on the side of China and the Chinese system."
Ties between Microsoft and Beijing go a long way back
Microsoft, which is headquartered in Washington state, was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975. It currently has roughly 9,000 employees in China, and has reportedly expressed its intent to surpass the 10,000-employee mark by the end of this year.
Citizen Frank reported that in 1998, Microsoft opened Microsoft Research Asia in Beijing – its largest research lab outside of the United States. Documents also show that the firm has entered into dozens of partnerships or cooperative agreements with various Chinese government entities since the 1990s.
On the Chinese app WeChat, an executive wrote that Microsoft hopes to "deepen the fertile ground for scientific research … [and] help to cultivate digital talents and join hands with Chinese innovation to go global."
Microsoft China President Joe Bao, who called the country the 'most dynamic and innovative place in the world in 2021,' said: "There is virtually no evidence Microsoft will reconsider its sprawling business relationships in China any time soon."
Citizen Frank also reported that back in 2016, China Daily and Microsoft's Global Media Cloud signed a memorandum of understanding in the mainland's capital Beijing. In attendance were China Daily Deputy Editor-In-Chief Wang Hao and Microsoft China Cloud Computing and Enterprise Division General Manager Shen Yuanqing.
Under the said "business” partnership, China Daily received Microsoft technology to "enable it to target potential readers" and establish a so-called Media Smart Cloud Innovation Technology Laboratory. The partnership also encouraged the development of an open innovation platform promoting "technological innovation and application promotion in the field of media convergence, such as big data and cloud computing."
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