Several Western intelligence agencies have for long suspected that Xinhua has links to China’s spy agencies. China’s state-run Xinhua news agency is no stranger to controversy, having been accused by governments and journalistic bodies of spreading disinformation at the behest of the ruling Communist party, biased coverage and even espionage. The Commission also said that China’s ministry of state security “makes extensive use of the news media covers, sending agents abroad as correspondents for the state news agency Xinhua and as reporters for newspapers such as the People’s Daily and China Youth Daily”. Xinhua (pronounced shin-hua) was formed in 1931 as the Red China agency, has nearly 110 bureaus worldwide and describes itself on its website as one of the world’s “most influential news portals”. He also alleged there were individuals within Xinhua who acted as “spies” to monitor the Falun Gong spiritual movement and critics of the Chinese government.

Source: Hindustan Times July 25, 2016 08:02 UTC