Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) plans to introduce a bill that will put a stop to a particular Chinese propaganda station from reaching American listeners via a loophole in U.S. law.
The Washington Free Beacon exclusively obtained a copy of Cruz’s legislation, which would put a halt to the Chinese Communist Party’s exploitation of U.S. law that allows them to use a broadcast tower in Mexico to transmit Chinese propaganda into the U.S. using Phoenix TV, and outlet that was purchased in 2018 by a group with ties to the Chinese government.
“China should not be able to set up shop in Mexico and blanket America with propaganda. Every year, the [Chinese Communist Party] spends billions of dollars purchasing news outlets and waging information warfare to extend the reach of its propaganda and whitewash the unflattering and politically inconvenient truths about its totalitarian regime,” Cruz told the Free Beacon.
“We are seeing this play out right now as news outlets across the country parrot Chinese talking points about the coronavirus pandemic—a pandemic that could have been prevented,” he added. “I look forward to introducing this legislation when Congress returns and closing FCC loopholes that allow China to wage their information warfare from across the border in Mexico.”
More from the Free Beacon:
Phoenix TV has been exploiting an FCC loophole that permits content produced in the United States to be broadcast back into the United States by radio towers more powerful than those located within the country. Phoenix TV, which is headquartered in California, produces its content domestically and then uses the powerful Mexican station to ensure it reaches American ears in California.
Cruz’s bill would ban the FCC from granting licenses for broadcasts from across the Mexican border when the new owners seek to change the language of the station they are purchasing—unless the FCC can guarantee they were free from foreign government influence.
The bill would also apply to those seeking to purchase radio towers in Canada that are capable of broadcasting into the United States.
Phoenix TV entered the spotlight earlier this month when a reporter from the outlet continuously asked President Donald Trump if he was working with China to stop the spread of the coronavirus and highlighted what China was allegedly doing to help. Trump asked the reporter if she worked for China or a China-owned news outlet and the reporter said “no,” that it was privately owned. As The Daily Wire’s Ryan Saavedra previously reported, however, the station is controlled by the Chinese Communist Propaganda Department.
Cruz had sounded the alarm on Phoenix TV back in 2018, calling attention to the purchase of Mexico’s XEWW AM 690 station by an investment group – H&H Capital – with ties to Phoenix TV and the Chinese government.
“The actual beneficiary owner of this deal is reportedly Phoenix Satellite TV,” Cruz wrote in 2018, as quoted by the Free Beacon. “Though ‘Phoenix Satellite TV’ does not appear anywhere in the H&H Group’s application, the address listed for programing content—3810 Durbin St., Irwindale, CA 91706—is a building owned by Phoenix Satellite TV USA.”
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