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Ties to Chinese State Media Raise Questions in U.S. Election Campaign | Ties to Chinese State Media Raise Questions in U.S. Election Campaign |
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BEIJING — Phillip Yin, a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor of Washington State, has an M.B.A. from Georgetown, a long list of policy ideas and a catchy campaign slogan (“Yin It to Win It”). But it is four letters on Mr. Yin’s résumé that have people talking. | BEIJING — Phillip Yin, a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor of Washington State, has an M.B.A. from Georgetown, a long list of policy ideas and a catchy campaign slogan (“Yin It to Win It”). But it is four letters on Mr. Yin’s résumé that have people talking. |
Mr. Yin, 41, was until last year a news anchor for CCTV America, an affiliate of the Chinese state television broadcaster CCTV. Two weeks into his campaign, some online commenters have suggested that he is a mouthpiece for the Chinese government, while the news media in mainland China has cheered him on. | |
Mr. Yin, the son of immigrants from Hong Kong, said he saw his experience at CCTV America, where he was an anchor based in Washington, D.C., as a strength that would allow him to build ties with leaders in Chinese business and government. | |
“You want somebody who’s going to understand which buttons to push,” Mr. Yin said in a telephone interview on Friday. | “You want somebody who’s going to understand which buttons to push,” Mr. Yin said in a telephone interview on Friday. |
In online forums and interviews, some commentators have raised questions about Mr. Yin’s ties to the network. Mr. Yin, a former journalist for Bloomberg and CNBC, helped CCTV expand its global reach in 2012 by joining CCTV America, an English-language channel based in Washington that began broadcasting in 2012. | In online forums and interviews, some commentators have raised questions about Mr. Yin’s ties to the network. Mr. Yin, a former journalist for Bloomberg and CNBC, helped CCTV expand its global reach in 2012 by joining CCTV America, an English-language channel based in Washington that began broadcasting in 2012. |
On Twitter, Bill Bishop, a media entrepreneur and prominent American commentator on China, recently wrote, “Wonder how Washington voters feel about an ex employee of China’s ministry of propaganda.” | On Twitter, Bill Bishop, a media entrepreneur and prominent American commentator on China, recently wrote, “Wonder how Washington voters feel about an ex employee of China’s ministry of propaganda.” |
In response, Mr. Yin tweeted, “I’m proud to have shared the importance of free speech with journalists I worked with.” | In response, Mr. Yin tweeted, “I’m proud to have shared the importance of free speech with journalists I worked with.” |
CCTV has come under criticism recently for having broadcast a string of confessions by foreigners accused of violating Chinese law. Rights campaigners and scholars in the West have dismissed the broadcasts as part of a propaganda campaign aimed at silencing dissent. | CCTV has come under criticism recently for having broadcast a string of confessions by foreigners accused of violating Chinese law. Rights campaigners and scholars in the West have dismissed the broadcasts as part of a propaganda campaign aimed at silencing dissent. |
On Friday, Mr. Yin, who left CCTV America in December, distanced himself from the videos, saying, “You’d have to be a fool to not be a little concerned.” Still, he emphasized that he did not know all the facts, and he was reluctant to criticize the crackdown on civil society under President Xi Jinping. | |
Mr. Yin said he had not experienced censorship at CCTV America, though he said that he sometimes had to make compromises, like when the network delayed its coverage of pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong in 2014 by a few hours. | |
Mr. Yin’s campaign has received little coverage in the United States, aside from a front-page article in The Yakima Herald-Republic, a newspaper in Washington State. But state news media in China have faithfully documented his candidacy. | Mr. Yin’s campaign has received little coverage in the United States, aside from a front-page article in The Yakima Herald-Republic, a newspaper in Washington State. But state news media in China have faithfully documented his candidacy. |
Many online commenters here have been supportive. | Many online commenters here have been supportive. |
“Hope he will actively speak on behalf of ethnic Chinese!” one user wrote on Weibo, a Twitter-like service. | “Hope he will actively speak on behalf of ethnic Chinese!” one user wrote on Weibo, a Twitter-like service. |
“It’s in the interest of tens of millions of Chinese,” another wrote. | “It’s in the interest of tens of millions of Chinese,” another wrote. |