Bill Gertz of the Washington Free Beacon details the Trump administration’s recent response to Chinese government “information warfare.”
The White House for the first time has pushed back against Chinese information warfare and propaganda in denouncing attempts by Beijing to impose political correctness on Americans and U.S. companies.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement issued Saturday that President Trump ran against political correctness during the presidential campaign and is opposing “efforts by the Chinese Communist Party to impose Chinese political correctness on American companies and citizens.”
“The United States strongly objects to China’s attempts to compel private firms to use specific language of a political nature in their publicly available content,” Sanders said.
“We call on China to stop threatening and coercing American carriers and citizens,” she added.
The unprecedented White House comments against Chinese government pressure related to an April 25 statement sent to 36 American and foreign air carriers by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration demanding changes in describing three geographical areas.
Sanders said the demand to conform to Chinese political correctness on websites and promotional material was aimed at coercing companies to abide by Communist Party of China standards.
“This is Orwellian nonsense and part of a growing trend by the Chinese Communist Party to impose its political views on American citizens and private companies,” she said.
“China’s internal internet repression is world-famous,” the statement said. “China’s efforts to export its censorship and political correctness to Americans and the rest of the free world will be resisted.”