China Propaganda Firm Promoted, Organized D.C. Protests

A Chinese marketing firm, using a network of 70 news websites to promote pro-China propaganda, helped promote and potentially even organize protests in the U.S. capital, The Washington Post and CNN reported, citing a Mandiant study.

Mandiant, a security firm owned by Google, studied the activity of Shanghai Haixun Technology Co., Ltd., and concluded pro-China campaigns — promoted through fake news websites — organized protests and even hired paid protesters in an operation “intended to sow discord in U.S. society,” analyst Ryan Serabian told CNN.

In addition to coordinating protests with paid protesters, the Post reported Shanghai Yihuan Cultural Communication Co., Ltd., which goes by the name Haixun Press, boasted on its website it can plant stories with U.S. news organizations and boost likes and shares on Big Tech platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Haixun Press is a private company, but has links to the Chinese government, according to the Post.

“These actors are trying to blur the line between fiction and fact by placing these pro-[China] articles onto legitimate U.S. news outlets, likely without their knowledge,” Serabian told the Post. “So, I think it’s very important for us to shine a spotlight on that so that measures are taken to prevent this from happening.”

Shanghai Haixun Technology did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment.

The Chinese embassy in Washington denied the allegations brought forth by Mandiant and reported by the Post and CNN.

“China has always adhered to non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs,” spokeswoman Liu Pengyu wrote in an email to CNN.