Microsoft has formed a partnership with two publications controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The Washington Free Beacon reports that the IT giant has signed agreements with the China Daily and People’s Daily publications. The two publications are largely regarded as key propaganda sources for the CCP. The CCP’s Central Propaganda Department publishes China Daily, while the CCP’s Central Committee publishes People’s Daily.
According to senior investigative writer Joseph Simonson of the Free Beacon, the Microsoft transactions have “not been widely reported outside of China, nor have the financial terms been disclosed.” A Microsoft spokesperson said that the contracts with the two publications “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.”
“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.”
Microsoft, founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, has around 9,000 employees in China and plans to surpass 10,000 by the end of this year. In 1998, Microsoft opened Microsoft Research Asia in Beijing, its largest research lab outside the US. The company has entered into numerous partnerships with Chinese government entities since the 1990s. Microsoft aims to deepen scientific research in China and help cultivate digital talents.
Microsoft China President Joe Bao has stated that there is no evidence that Microsoft will reconsider its business relationships in China. In 2016, China Daily and Microsoft’s Global Media Cloud signed a memorandum of understanding in Beijing, allowing China Daily to target potential readers and establish a Media Smart Cloud Innovation Technology Laboratory.
The partnership also encouraged the development of an open innovation platform promoting technological innovation and application promotion in media convergence, such as big data and cloud computing.
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