{"id":1213209,"date":"2022-01-13T05:19:27","date_gmt":"2022-01-13T10:19:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1213209"},"modified":"2022-01-13T05:19:34","modified_gmt":"2022-01-13T10:19:34","slug":"what-the-puck-chinese-govt-propagandists-promote-olympics-at-washington-capitals-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/what-the-puck-chinese-govt-propagandists-promote-olympics-at-washington-capitals-game\/","title":{"rendered":"What the Puck? Chinese Gov\u2019t Propagandists Promote Olympics at Washington Capitals Game"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwhat-the-puck-chinese-govt-propagandists-promote-olympics-at-washington-capitals-game%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1213209&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Fans of the Washington Capitals hockey team were treated to a full-blown Chinese propaganda campaign during the team&#8217;s blowout loss on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Chinese ambassador Qin Gang <a href=\"http:\/\/www.china-embassy.org\/eng\/dshd\/202201\/t20220112_10481154.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">appeared<\/a> on the Capital One Arena jumbotron during the game to promote next month&#8217;s Olympics in Beijing, which will be <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/biden-administration\/half-measure-gop-senator-slams-biden-for-limited-olympic-boycott\/\">diplomatically boycotted<\/a> by the United States and other western nations over China&#8217;s human rights abuses. A correspondent for China Global Television Network (CGTN), a state-controlled propaganda outlet, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cgtnamerica\/status\/1481317552882163721\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">distributed<\/a> plush toys to fans and recruited Capitals mascot Slapshot to toss Chinese souvenirs into the crowd. The propaganda outlet also <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cgtnamerica\/status\/1481314530617708548\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">interviewed<\/a> Capitals fans about their favorite Olympic events.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1555011\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1555011\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/W020220112063375264516-1024x564-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"564\" srcset=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/W020220112063375264516-1024x564.png 1024w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/W020220112063375264516-300x165.png 300w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/W020220112063375264516-768x423.png 768w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/W020220112063375264516-736x405.png 736w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/W020220112063375264516.png 1062w\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image of message from Chinese ambassador to U.S. aired on Capital One Arena&#8217;s jumbotron during game<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Capitals did not respond to questions about whether the Chinese government or CGTN paid the team for the promotion, which was put on by the Chinese embassy. A team spokesman said the &#8220;select in-game and post-game activations, including a Washington, D.C.-based youth figure skating group, highlighted the Chinese Lunar New Year for programming that aired on CGTN.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The promotional event is the latest push in China&#8217;s aggressive campaign to win support for its Olympics amid growing calls to boycott the games. Human rights groups have urged television networks and corporate sponsors to pull out of the games because of China&#8217;s ongoing genocide against Muslims in the Xinjiang province.<\/p>\n<p>The event also showcases American professional sports leagues&#8217; willingness to appease the Chinese Communist Party, likely in the hopes of entering the large and lucrative Chinese market. The National Football League came under fire for a marketing map that showed Taiwan as a part of China, and the National Basketball Association has had numerous scandals due to its association with the Chinese Communist Party. Major League Baseball has come under congressional scrutiny for its plan to <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/mlb-ships-jobs-to-china-to-build-closer-relationship-with-ccp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">export<\/a> jobs to China.<\/p>\n<p>The National Hockey League has also sought access to the Chinese market. That initiative has been <a href=\"https:\/\/thehockeynews.com\/news\/meet-the-chinese-billionaire-who-wants-to-grow-hockey-in-the-world-s-biggest-market\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">led<\/a> on the Chinese side by Zhou Yunjie, the owner of ORG Packaging, a company that makes metal cans. ORG Packaging&#8217;s ads were featured at the Capitals game. Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, also had its ads posted at the arena.<\/p>\n<p>Among the wealthy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhl.com\/capitals\/news\/leonsis-announces-laurene-powell-jobs-joining-monumental-ownership-group\/c-291758804\">owners of the team<\/a> is Laurene Powell Jobs, who sits on an $18 billion fortune that was built on the back of cheap Chinese labor. Tech giant Apple, founded by her late husband Steve Jobs, has long manufactured its products in China. The company was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/chinese-suppliers-to-apple-nike-shun-xinjiang-workers-as-u-s-forced-labor-ban-looms-11626795627\">caught<\/a> last year relying on Chinese factories that use slave labor, and spent money to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/apple-lobbied-congress-uyghur-slave-labor-china-daf5a4b1-55ed-493c-a243-85f64db2adf9.html\">lobby against congressional legislation<\/a> aimed at punishing China for its use of slave labor.<\/p>\n<p>Desperate to burnish its image in the West, the Chinese government has used a variety of platforms to spread its propaganda. State-controlled media outlets like <em>China Daily<\/em> have <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/media\/chinese-propaganda-outlet-paid-millions-to-american-newspapers-and-magazines\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">paid millions of dollars<\/a> to American newspapers and magazines in the United States to publish pro-Beijing articles. The <em>Washington Free Beacon<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/china-pays-american-influencers-to-promote-beijing-olympics-amid-boycotts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> that the Chinese consulate in New York plans to pay the public relations firm Vippi Media $300,000 to hire social media influencers to promote the Olympics.<\/p>\n<p>This is not the organization&#8217;s first brush with authoritarian regimes. The franchise came under scrutiny when its star player, Alex Ovechkin, declared the Capitals to be &#8220;Putin&#8217;s team,&#8221; a reference to Russian strongman Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_889504\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-889504 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/alexander-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"485\" height=\"340\" srcset=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/alexander-1.jpg 485w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/alexander-1-300x210.jpg 300w\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) holds a certificate along with Russian national ice hockey team member Alexander Ovechkin (2nd L) \/ Getty<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Capitals lost Monday&#8217;s game to the Boston Bruins, 7-3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fans of the Washington Capitals hockey team were treated to a full-blown Chinese propaganda campaign during the team&#8217;s blowout loss on Monday. Chinese ambassador Qin Gang appeared on the Capital &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":335,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1213209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1213209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/335"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1213209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1213209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1213209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1213209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1213209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}