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A woman adjusts a Chinese flag near the American flags.
Ng Han Guan | AFP | Getty Images
The US State Department said on Friday it had cut off five cultural exchange programs with China, calling them “soft power propaganda tools.”
The ministry said on its website that it had “ended” the educational travel program for policymakers to China, the US-China friendship program, the US-China leadership exchange program, the Chinese-American leadership exchange program, Chinese-American Trans-Pacific Exchange and Hong Kong Educational and Cultural Program.
He said the programs were set up under the auspices of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act – a 1961 law signed by President John F. Kennedy and aimed at boosting academic and cultural exchanges with foreign countries. .
“While other programs funded under the auspices of MECEA are mutually beneficial, the five programs in question are fully funded and managed by the (Chinese) government as soft power propaganda tools,” the statement said.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately return a message requesting comment on the decision. Attempts to reach representatives of programs chosen by the State Department were not immediately successful.
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