In The Future, Get Your Chinese Propaganda Directly From Forbes – Opinion

In August of 2021, Forbes — a magazine inextricably linked with the concepts of business, economy, finance and capitalism — announced it was being acquired by Magnum Opus Acquisition Limited.

That’s doubtless a pleasing announcement for anyone who likes a little Chinese propaganda with their business reporting, but U.S. Sens. Tom Cotton (Ark.Bill Hagerty, Ted Cruz (Texas), Bill Cassidy and Bill Hagerty all (Tenn.). don’t care for that combination much and wrote to Treasury Department head Janet Yellen expressing a desire to see the deal investigated on the grounds that it posed a literal national security threat.

“The CCP’s direction of Forbes’ editorial content and business operations, or its access to Forbes’ financial and personal research, could present a serious national security threat to the United States,” the Senators wrote on May 24.

As such, they have more to offer than a point. The Washington Free Beacon reports:

China’s larger plan to control American companies is to acquire Forbes as part of an effort to promote its propaganda and restrict coverage of mass human rights abuses such as its genocide Uyghur Muslims. While most Chinese-controlled media outlets that operate in the United States—such as Xinhua News Agency, China Global Television Network, and China Daily—are required to disclose ties to the CCP, the Forbes brand name could help the Chinese government mainstream its propaganda to American audiences with less scrutiny, the senators say.

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An April 8 proxy statement filed by Magnum Opus, the acquisition company, says that if the deal proceeds, Forbes “could be subject to oversight and discretion of [Chinese] governmental authorities, which could seek to intervene or influence its business operations at any time that the government deems appropriate to further their regulatory, political, and societal goals,” the senators wrote.

Magnum Opus is “domiciled within the jurisdiction of the Chinese Communist Party,” and its seed money “came directly from China’s sovereign wealth fund, the Chinese Investment Corporation,” according to information disclosed by the senators.

Peng Chum (a gentleman identified in SEC filings) is the Chairman of the Chinese Investment Corporation. And there’s little doubt who that corporation answers to.

The China Investment Corporation is a direct extension of the CCP’s power. The corporation’s primary, overriding purpose is to further the party’s aims. Peng’s resume attests to as much. For 13 years at the start of his career, Peng worked in various roles in Xinjiang province. His entire career, Peng has served as a faithful CCP servant. Xinjiang hosted a genocidal campaign that stripped Chinese Uyghurs from their cultural identities and turned them into forced labourers.

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China’s intention seems pretty clear. The CCP wants to use a very thinly veiled corporate cutout to buy Forbes and then use it as a Western media platform to advance the party’s interests. Considering that the party’s central U.S. interest rests on the expansion of political, economic, and military space for Chinese global hegemony, let’s hope Secretary Yellen heeds Waltz’s concerns. Do we really need Peng to use Forbes as a means of educating us about Uyghurs, or not?

It’s a fascinating coincidence that this purchase is playing out in juxtaposition to a recent kerfluffle involving President Xi and The Jerusalem Post.

Didn’t take long. Call from Chinese Embassy Apparently I’m supposed to take down the story or they will sever ties with the @Jerusalem_PostRelationships with Israel are being downgraded. Needless to say, story ain’t going anywhere. https://t.co/BypRMTbc6W

— Yaakov Katz (@yaakovkatz) May 30, 2022

U.S. senators are right to sound the alarm and anyone who chooses to ignore China’s intention in taking over a widely-read American publication (that has, at least in the past, a reputation for covering the free market) does so at their peril. Both Communism is propaganda. There’s no reason to think China’s version — as business-friendly as it wants to appear — is an exception.