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The Trump administration announced on Friday that it had ended five cultural exchange programs with China which it said are “propaganda tools.”
The State Department said the nixed programs were the Policy Makers China Educational Travel Program, the US-China Friendship Program, the US-China Leadership Exchange Program, the US Trans-Pacific Exchange Program. -Chinese and the Hong Kong educational and cultural program.
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The programs have enabled government employees to travel with funding from foreign governments.
“While other programs funded under the auspices of the [Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act] mutually beneficial, the five programs in question are fully funded and operated by the PRC government as soft power propaganda tools, ”the statement said. “They provide carefully organized access to Chinese Communist Party officials, not to the Chinese people, who do not enjoy the freedoms of speech and assembly.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States welcomes cultural programs that are “reciprocal and equitable”, but “one-sided programs like these are not mutually beneficial.”
The Trump administration has taken a tough stance on China, pushing back its human rights forays against religious minorities and Hong Kong, and tackling privacy concerns over Chinese technology at United States. It showed no signs of slowing down. approaching in the last days of administration.
STATE DEPARTMENT RESTRICTS VISAS FOR CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY MEMBERS, PROMOTING RETALIATIONS
The administration also announced on Friday that it had restricted visas for Chinese officials and their immediate families in order to protect the United States from “the evil influence” of the Chinese Communist Party.
The change reduces the maximum visa validity from 10 years to one month, the State Department said.
In an interview with Fox News this week, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe urged the incoming Biden administration to recognize that China is the “greatest national security threat we face.”
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“People who take in other things, or who say … Russia is a bigger threat, they politicize intelligence,” he said.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman, Bradford Betz and Rich Edson contributed to this report.
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