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''Vision China Times Australia'' is a Chinese language newspaper owned by the Vision Times Media (Australia) Corporation Pty Ltd. ''Vision China Times Australia'' was established as a weekly newspaper in Australia in July 2006, based on a widely-read overseas Chinese news website, secretchina.com, which was launched in 2001 in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and is known as ''Vision Times'' or '' Kanzhongguo''. The newspaper has been described as part of the media outreach of
Falun Gong Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a new religious movement founded by its leader Li Hongzhi in China in the early 1990s. Falun Gong has its global headquarters in Dragon Springs, a compound in Deerpark, New York, United States, near t ...
, an
anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...
new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as a new religion, is a religious or Spirituality, spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin, or they can be part ...
, although this has been contested by the paper's Australian editorial team.


Distribution, features and history

The ''Vision China Times Australia'' newspaper has distributions in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
,
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
,
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
and Gold Coast. The newspaper is distributed in
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
on a fortnightly basis in a magazine style. The focus is on bringing relevant information to the Australia Chinese diaspora. The newspaper aims to "serve the Australian society by truly connecting the Chinese community with the Western mainstream through balanced reporting, promotion of both Australian and Chinese traditional cultures and values, and communicating the policies and views of the Australian government to the Chinese community in an unbiased way". Founder Ma Zhendong, a Sydney businessman, practices Falun Gong with his wife. Their daughter, Maree Ma, manages the newspaper. ''Vision China Times Australia'' is noted for being a Chinese language media outlet that is independent from the Chinese government. The chief editor of ''Vision China Times Australia,'' Yan Xia, wrote in 2016: "The Chinese government’s growing influence on local Chinese language media reinforces viewpoints that become even more entrenched over time, making it more difficult for Chinese readers to accept alternative perspectives. ... Recent disharmony within the Chinese community and dissatisfaction with the Australian government are manifestations of the extent of China’s influence on local Chinese media. ... We consider it our duty to provide impartial news helping to bridge the cultural and political divide between the East and West. This duty cannot be shirked, but Beijing’s manipulation and meddling makes it no easy task."


Opposition from China

In 2019, a joint Fairfax and Four Corners investigation found that the Chinese Consulate-General in Sydney pressured the
Georges River Council Georges River Council is a Local government in Australia, local government area located in the St George (Sydney), St George region of Sydney located south of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, in New South Wales, Australia. The ...
to withdraw ''Vision China Times Australia's'' sponsorship for a local community event. ''Vision China Times'' told the ''South China Morning Post'' that Chinese state security agents had pressured one of its China-based advertisers into pulling its contract with the paper. At a Chinese Foreign Ministry press conference in
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
, the newspaper was described as "
Falun Gong Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a new religious movement founded by its leader Li Hongzhi in China in the early 1990s. Falun Gong has its global headquarters in Dragon Springs, a compound in Deerpark, New York, United States, near t ...
-backed media". The newspaper responded, "We are an independent Chinese media company with no financial affiliation to any religious or political organisations." In 2019, ''Vision China Times'' along with ''
The Epoch Times ''The Epoch Times'' is a far-right international multi-language newspaper and media company affiliated with the Falun Gong new religious movement. The newspaper, based in New York City, is part of the Epoch Media Group, which also operates N ...
'' was subject to pressure in Australia from the Chinese government, which described both newspapers as backed by the Falun Gong. Because of the pressure, advertisers withdrew for fear of retribution from China. General manager Maree Ma of ''Vision China Times'' told the ''
Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...
'' that it had lost more than 90 percent of its mainland Chinese website traffic in one day in August 2019 and suspected that the Chinese government had blacklisted its site.


Relationship between ''Vision Times'' and Falun Gong

Ben Hurley, a writer for ''The Epoch Times'' until 2013, wrote in 2017 about how various media outlets had been established as a voice for
Falun Gong Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a new religious movement founded by its leader Li Hongzhi in China in the early 1990s. Falun Gong has its global headquarters in Dragon Springs, a compound in Deerpark, New York, United States, near t ...
, including ''The Epoch Times'',
New Tang Dynasty Television New Tang Dynasty Television (NTD Television) is a multilingual American television broadcaster founded by adherents of the Falun Gong new religious movement and based in New York City. The station was founded in 2001 as a Chinese-language bro ...
, China Uncensored on YouTube,
Sound of Hope Sound of Hope (SOH) is an international Chinese-language radio network. Along with New Tang Dynasty Television and ''The Epoch Times'', it is part of a network of media organizations established by practitioners of the Falun Gong new religious ...
on radio, and ''Vision China Times''. In 2020, an
Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
investigation said it found evidence that ''Vision China Times'' "is closely affiliated with the religious group Falun Gong, a
new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as a new religion, is a religious or Spirituality, spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin, or they can be part ...
that seeks to bring an end to the rule of the
Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...
(CCP)", that it was sharing a "business address with Decode China, a Chinese language news website established under a funding arrangement by the
U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...
", and that it operates under an annual financial contract with the global ''
Vision Times ''Vision Times'' (), also known as ''Kanzhongguo'', is a Falun Gong-affiliated Chinese language weekly newspaper. It was founded in 2001 as a website, www.secretchina.com. In 2006, it began publishing weekly print versions in major U.S. cities a ...
'' network, "whose president is also the spokesperson for the
Falun Dafa Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a new religious movement founded by its leader Li Hongzhi in China in the early 1990s. Falun Gong has its global headquarters in Dragon Springs, a compound in Deerpark, New York, United States, near t ...
Association in New York, and the chair of another Falun Gong organisation called Quit the CCP." The report also said that "Falun Gong's founder
Li Hongzhi Li Hongzhi ( zh, c=李洪志; born 1951 or 1952) is a Chinese religious leader. He is the founder and leader of Falun Gong, or ''Falun Dafa'', a United States–based new religious movement. Li began his public teachings of Falun Gong on 13 May ...
refers to ''Vision Times'' as 'our media. David Brophy of
Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
described ''Vision China Times'' as "pushing an extremely conservative right-wing viewpoint on global politics, a very black and white view of the world in which China represents evil, America represents all that is good and essentially the source of human freedom," and questioned its motives and independence: "There's clearly a question as to the nature of this publication, its independence, its relationship to a religious and political organisation". In response, ''Vision China Times'' told ABC that "We are not a FLG media", and that apart from a payment for yearly news sources, it had no operational or financial deals with ''Vision Times'' or Falun Gong. The operator of ''Vision China Times,'' Vision Times Media Australia, claimed the ABC had wrongly tied the company to a US publisher of a similar name. However, ABC found that 12 staff members of ''Vision China Times'' had worked for Falun Gong's ''Epoch Times''. The think tank
Australian Strategic Policy Institute The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) is a defence and strategic policy think tank based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, founded by the Australian government, and funded by the Australian Department of Defence along with o ...
(ASPI) reported that the Australian and the US operators of ''Vision China Times'' had both used the URL secretchina but with different
domain name In the Internet, a domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services, and more. ...
s. ASPI also noted that Chief Editor Yan Xia denies that ''Vision China Times'' takes direction from the Falun Gong. A Decode China media statement to the ABC stated that on 24 July 2020, it was notified the project had been terminated by the U.S. State Department and "the project will no longer go ahead". The U.S. government said on 6 August 2020 that it had recently ended its relationship with Decode China. ''Vision China Times''’ general manager, Maree Ma, was listed as secretary of Decode China in company records.


References


External links

* {{Falun Gong 2006 establishments in Australia Newspapers established in 2006 Chinese-Australian culture Chinese-language newspapers Non-English-language newspapers published in Australia Falun Gong propaganda Overseas Chinese newspapers Chinese-language newspapers published in Australia