Travel Vloggers Have Become the CCP's Newest Propaganda Tool

Welcome to Crossroads. The Chinese Communist Party is turning to an odd source for its propaganda. Travel vloggers. Now the CCP has been using its state-run news outlets and also other entities to promote the channels of propagandists. And while the Chinese Communist Party's, you know, focus on travel bloggers have become kind of the face of this program, the CCP is also extending this into a broader network of reporters, podcasters, presenters, influencers, and others who it's using as tools to promote its propaganda by proxy. Now these operations have been allowed to take place mostly in the open, but they could also run dissimilar pressure on things going after, for example, Russian disinformation and other things, because many people now are being charged criminally for allegedly working as foreign agents for Russia for doing very similar things. Now first on the sudden influx of these travel vloggers going to China. The Chinese Communist Party has lifted visa restrictions for many countries, and this is causing a, you know, quote, travel rush. Now Chinese media have this to say, this is South China Morning Post. They say in an opinion piece, I never expected that foreigners could become the strongest spokespeople for China. On YouTube, I've come across video headlines such as, China is not what we expected. I was wrong about China, so I came back. And the media doesn't want you to see this in China, made by foreign vloggers, some of whom have many followers. And notes that a China travel rush is underway, thanks in part to China rolling out a visa free 24 hour transit policy for people from other countries around the world at all of its accessible exit entry ports. And that's the key word here, because it only lets them into certain areas. You're not allowed to travel to some key areas, notably. And if you do, you're going to be hounded by Chinese authorities. Now notes that 41 such ports encompassing 19 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have implemented a 72 hour or 144 hour visa free transit period for foreign nationals from 54 countries. Now in this piece, they actually go on and talk about, you know, Xinjiang and how some of these travel vloggers are going there. Xinjiang is of course, where you have the persecuted Muslim minority, the Uyghurs. And of course, the Chinese Communist Party has large scale systems to monitor them, track them, persecute them, enslave them and so on. Of course, you're not going to see all of that if you're just walking through the main areas where you're permitted to go. There are key areas you're not going to be allowed to go, just like with Tibet. But you know, as these travel vloggers go to these places, they're just showing the part the Chinese Communist Party wants the world to see. And then they're basing, of course, the propaganda based on what the CCP is allowing them to show. Which of course, where it gets a little complicated. Now as you'd imagine, there's a lot more to this. This is tied to a big propaganda push, not from these vloggers, but from the Chinese Communist Party itself. New York Times said this, they said China in recent years has encouraged locals to treat foreigners as potential spies, expanded its surveillance state and expelled or arrested journalists at Chinese and foreign media outlets. But it points to the carefree travel videos as proof from Westerners that criticisms about those issues are manufactured. In other words, the CCP is using these people. It notes that one individual, Chang Lei, an Australian journalist who was recently released after serving three years in prison in China on charges of endangering national security, has described China as a, quote, locked paradise, where prosperity and technological prowess help whitewash the abuses of authoritarianism. And said as well, if you are a visitor, you can have a great time biking around the alleys, trying the food, talking to locals, taking the high speed train, she wrote this month. But she said, quote, you forget that you are on a massive movie set seeing a facade of freedom. And it's inevitably, though, as China's allowed in more foreign visitors and cameras, it becomes harder to shape the narrative that emerges. Some bloggers have shared experiences that the government is less eager to promote. Of course, if that happens, well, you see the opposite side of it. Rather than promote you, they punish you. Now, it's basically the Truman Show. Maybe some of you have seen that movie, Jim Carrey. And he's living in a world where everybody's friendly and nice, and then he comes to realize that every single person around him is an actor, and everything is set up and it's fake. That is the experience of journalists and bloggers and travel people going to China trying to show a picture of it to the rest of the world. Because what happens is this. The Chinese Communist Party regards you as an instrument through which it can use to promote the image it wants the world to see. This is why even journalists with mainstream media going to China can't operate there if they dare to report the truth. And of course, the CCP allows some gray area. One of the ironies of New York Times promoting this, for example, is New York Times regularly promotes Chinese propaganda as well, including notably on its human rights abuses, showing the CCP side but not the actual side. Many news outlets take money from the Chinese Communist Party, notably through things like China Daily, including printing inserts of straight up Chinese propaganda. And the irony of this, well, look, you have people on the other side promoting, for example, like Russian propaganda, which I think is just as problematic. But people facing criminal charges for that and going to jail possibly for it. But you have people promoting the CCP's propaganda with just as deep ties, not facing any kind of repercussions. Now, when it comes to, of course, as individuals going to China, this is not something new. During the Soviet Union, you had the same exact issue. You had journalists from New York Times and Time Magazine and Look Magazine going to the Soviet Union and showing this beautiful image of what communism really looks like, they were telling people. Of course, what they were really showing is what's called a Potemkin village, a fake facade being propped up by the regime that it wanted the world to see. And what ended up happening was this. Journalists went there. They were approached by special agents. The special agents pretended to be their friends. They wined them and dined them and took them around and showed them the grand nature of everything they'd built. But it was all fake. It was acts. It was false images. It was, for example, fake events. It was these types of things. But these journalists, still wanting to just believe what they saw in front of them, were towing the party line and promoted the party line. It's the exact same thing right now with the Chinese Communist Party. Now, look, it's also one of those things where, again, if you promote it, if you do the thing the CCP wants you to do, if you tow the party line, they help you. They might even pay you for it. But if you don't, you face getting blacklisted or worse. Notably, I can't go to China, for example. And notably, for example, the vloggers, right, these travel vloggers and so on, who say what the CCP wants them to say, well, they're getting used by the Chinese Communist Party. We'll be talking about this more if we come back from a quick break. American Heartford Gold, a trusted industry leader with an A plus from the Better Business Bureau has a five star rating from thousands of happy clients Whether you are getting physical precious metals in a gold IRA or delivered to your doorstep, we offer only the highest quality gold and silver. For your peace of mind. We also offer a no fee buyback commitment, a low price guarantee, along with free shipping and free insurance. So don't wait. Call the number on your screen today and secure your financial future Welcome back. The Chinese Communist Party is a new tool for global propaganda travel vloggers Now any bit individual these foreigners who go to China traveling around and showing images of all the things the CCP wants to see They go and post about their experiences in China and they have become the face of the Chinese regime's newest influence Operation the CCP has been using its state-run news outlets and other entities to promote the channels of these individuals who speak highly of the Chinese Communist Party and of the clean image that the CCP wants the world to see and They're moving the spotlight away notably from the Chinese Communist Party's human rights abuses Sometimes even actively doing it saying hey, look how nice Xinjiang is. There's no slavery here There's no human rights abuses here. Of course, I'm not gonna see it on the street but what's happening is they go there they report on it and even again foreign media does the same exact thing in some cases and while the pro-ccp travel bloggers have become the face of this program the CCP notably is Extending a similar system to use a broader propaganda network of reporters podcasters presenters and influencers Using foreigners as the face and the tools of a global propaganda campaign And these campaigns notably have been allowed to take place largely in the open unlike with Russian propaganda these individuals at least not yet are not facing criminal charges and Something else to note about this travel propaganda this whole tactic of the CCP The vloggers who say what the Chinese Communist Party wants them to say are getting used by the Chinese Communist Party In fact BBC said this they said YouTube labels Chinese state media like broadcasters CGTN as government funded but there is little policing when it comes to individuals promoting similar narratives Now that some vloggers are suspected of cooperating with state-owned outlets to spread China's rhetoric to the world But it's far from clear what really motivates them or how effective the strategy is now notes this It says coordinated videos have recently been appearing on foreign bloggers channels to counter investigative reports from independent media on the treatment of China's Uyghur community in its Northwest Xinjiang region and notes have subsequently gone on to appear in videos for Chinese state broadcaster CGTN so in other words as again Congress makes bills condemning and even sanctioning the Chinese Communist Party for again forced labor slavery for things like forced organ harvesting for other human rights abuses as They go after them and as journalists actual journalists investigate and expose these things you have these Youtubers going to China Oftentimes in some cases even paid for by the Chinese Communist Party Promoting a very different image where they just showed the facade They just show the surface and then based on the surface try to deny the investigative findings of human rights abuses Things again, you're not going to see if you're going to like restaurants and walking around the street but these individuals of course after again Broadcasting this other image just the facade then go on Chinese state media And again try to convince people on tik-tok or Twitter or whatever else that it's not really true that none of it's true because they Went there and ate at a restaurant that again the CCP uses them to state those things and tow that line and Convince young people mostly on these channels and social networks that the media reports of human rights abuses are just not true now many of these youtubers says have hundreds of Thousands of subscribers and their videos are fiercely promoted and commented on by nationalist users now When it comes to the Chinese Communist Party a lot of that is not grassroots When you have these quote-unquote nationalist users They of course mean Chinese individuals who in China promote and spread and comment on these articles or videos Now with the Chinese Communist Party some of it may be actual people But they also have what's called the 50-cent army The CCP has thousands tens of thousands of individuals some for the number higher who it pays money To go and promote things like this. They leave comments on YouTube videos, for example, and they get paid per comment They promote it they spread it They post it on a social media and every time they do that the Chinese Communist Party has a system where it pays Them but you have these vloggers and so on making their videos and they have people pouring money in They're not understanding some of those individuals are Chinese Communist Party Agents and this is where it gets complicated because again, we're seeing people doing the exact same thing tied allegedly to Russia facing criminal charges Working as agents of Russia, but people doing the exact same thing sometimes even more in the open and sometimes even far worse Working with the Chinese Communist Party and its agents not yet facing criminal charges Now I know it's here there appears to be a growing network of foreigners being pulled into Chinese state media campaigns on its website CGTN says it currently has more than 700 global stringers worldwide to whom it offers international visibility and bonuses In other words the CCP on its side does this openly the Chinese Communist Party on its side And this is just one of its state-run media CGTN Uses individuals and it offers them International visibility. In other words, they promote the channels and Bonuses read that as you will right now notes as well that it aims to expand its Influencer pool further by offering cash rewards of up to $10,000 to reporters Podcasters presenters and influencers who join its newly launched media challengers campaign Now in some cases again if you're working for a state-run media and you're doing this You would have to register as a foreign agent. The question now is are these podcasters youtubers journalists and so on? Registering as foreign agents when they jump on board with this or are they concealing the payments, right? Now what's interesting here is that there are people again being charged Criminally with acting as foreign agents for things almost exactly like this even people with alleged financial ties to Russia's RT against state-run to an extent Russian media are facing criminal charges But here you have a media a Chinese one that is more directly state-run even more so than RT Having programs openly paying journalists Podcasters vloggers and so on working with them promoting them bringing them on their channels Using them openly and saying they'll even pay them and promote them Not yet facing criminal charges on what is almost the exact same issue But even further because it's more directly tied to the CCP Now look given that the CCP Russia and Iran notably are being accused of spreading election Disinformation, right these types of soft power Operations are drawing the attention of authorities in the United States and elsewhere They're getting a lot of attention because of this there are real concerns For example, the Trump campaign came out recently and they said that they were breached They were hacked by Iran and they noted that Iran then again took that information Allegedly and then fed it to journalists and US media now the journalists of those US news outlets They said that they would not publish it given the fact that it was stolen allegedly by Iran provided to them with the intent Allegedly again to interfere with the US elections, but now Russia is being accused of the same thing In fact, you have some conservative journalists facing criminal charges right now on that allegation Now the question is is the CCP operation of that same nature? Well, maybe not interfering with the elections Maybe it is we don't really know But acting as a foreign agent the core charge Yes, it's the exact same thing now a possible issue with these operations is that while Russia propagandists aren't as common, right? There aren't as many of them RT is one of the main Russian state-run news They have a few smaller ones. The CCP has a very large one though They have many state-run news outlets and notably a lot of major news outlets have taken a lot of money From the Chinese Communist Party, for example from the Chinese Communist Party's state-run China Daily Which is even openly published inserts in many major US news outlets The Chinese Communist Party does a lot of this openly the Chinese Communist Party's financial ties to American news outlets American individual journalists American bloggers American podcasters and these individuals at least not yet They're not being treated with the same level of scrutiny and the type of propaganda operations that they're doing Notably, they're resulting in criminal charges on one side You tied to Russia for example But they're not getting the same level of attention on the other side if you tied with the Chinese Communist Party but notably as the Conflicts with the CCP grow as a CCP deepens It's you know no limits agreement with Russia as the war in Europe rages, of course and probably spreads and as the Chinese Communist Party works together with Iran and other countries and Pushing into the South China Sea and even the Arctic as this grows and also notably is the Chinese Communist Party's human rights abuses Get more attention. It is possible that we could see criminal charges against Propagandists working as CCP agents treated with the same legal standards as the Propagandists working allegedly as Russian agents because again normally you have equal representation under the law Normally you have equal enforcement under the law And so why is it that one news outlet can get charged on one side but on the same exact issue tied to China? It's not treated the same Individuals can make this argument and it's very likely I think in the trajectory we're on we could start seeing criminal charges more broadly on this Now notably in Taiwan, they already actually go after operations like this in Taiwan Broad CCP operations like this are getting exposed more regularly including CCP operations targeting politicians I'll be talking more about this global pushback against the CCP's influence operations only on EpicTV.com So if you're watching on YouTube Facebook X rumble, there's a link in the description below click on that You'll get access to the rest of this episode as well as a whole library of shows and our hard-hitting Documentaries and issues that really matter like the Chinese Communist Party's 100 year plan to defeat the United States The CCP is one of the biggest threats to this country They're using things like propaganda video games entertainment movies culture to subvert and influence the next generation If you'd like to find out more about the CCP is plotting against America Watch my documentary the final war the 100 year plot to defeat America You can find the link in the description below and I'll show you all a trailer before you go Exclusively to EpicTV.com for the rest of this episode. 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