China News Service
China News Service is the second largest state-owned news agency in China, after Xinhua News Agency. China News Service was formerly run by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, which was absorbed into the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party in 2018. Its operations have traditionally been directed at overseas Chinese worldwide and residents of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.History
CNS was established in 1952. It has news offices and stations in every province in mainland China, as well as in Hong Kong and Macau. CNS also has news offices in foreign countries, including the United States, Japan, France, Thailand, New Zealand, and Australia. CNS also controls the Chinese New Zealand Herald, which is co-owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment. The editor-in-chief of CNS until February 2015 was Liu Beixian, who was later charged with bribery offenses during the anti-corruption campaign under Xi Jinping.
In 2014 CNS published an editorial which derided outgoing American ambassador to China Gary Locke. The editorial was widely criticized both within China and internationally for referring to the Chinese American ambassador as a banana which was interpreted as a racial slur. The article also mocked his Mandarin Chinese abilities and said that his ancestors would disown him if they knew about his loyalties.
In 2019, CNS began a campaign to increase its influence on overseas social media. According to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, CNS was involved in targeted disinformation and propaganda campaigns during the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests. According to an investigation by ProPublica, CNS has also hired a third-party firm to create fake Twitter accounts to spread disinformation related to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.
In June 2020, the United States Department of State designated China News Service as a "foreign mission."
