Marco Rubio Puts Politico On Notice

You gotta love Sen. Marco Rubio. The man is brutally honest about what a scourge he believes socialism and communism are, understandable coming from the son of Cuban dissidents. He recently took aim — albeit diplomatically, as is his way — at news media outlet Politico for partnering with a Chinese newsgroup

According to the Washington Post, Politico — which of course covers all things political here in Washington, DC — announced a content-sharing partnership with Hong Kong-based newspaper South China Morning Post (SCMP).

The announcement read in part:

One part of our expanding coverage involves a content partnership we are unveiling today with the South China Morning Post. SCMP, based in Hong Kong, is the oldest newspaper in Asia and is the only independent English-language publication in the region. SCMP has an editorial staff of 300 in Asia, with about 40 reporters stationed in mainland China. Like POLITICO, the publication has global ambitions. Under the partnership, SCMP editors will have access to POLITICO stories to share with their readers, and POLITICO editors can draw on the SCMP stories we believe our readers will find most relevant. Over time, editors in both newsrooms will look for opportunities to combine resources on original stories produced in combination with POLITICO and SCMP journalists.

The Post, however, remembering what it is journalists do (which is a good thing to see from the old girl), calls a halt on the early celebration:

The paper is owned by the Chinese Internet giant the Alibaba Group, which runs the country’s most popular e-commerce platform, as well as many other businesses. Alibaba is often compared to Amazon, since the two companies are roughly the same size and operate in some of the same spaces. And Amazon’s chief executive, Jeffrey P. Bezos, owns a newspaper as well — The Washington Post.

But there is a major difference between a Chinese company and an American investor owning a newspaper. Despite President Trump’s criticisms, Amazon and Bezos are permitted to anger and provoke Trump. Operating with the permission of China’s ruling Communist Party, Alibaba does not have that same luxury with Party Secretary Xi Jinping — China’s president — and other top Party bosses. Like every major Chinese company, Alibaba must work with the Party to succeed. While speaking English, Alibaba founder Jack Ma sounds like a tech entrepreneur. In his native Chinese, he sometimes sounds like a die-hard Party advocate.

Enter Sen. Rubio, who breaks it down in terms we’ve all become familiar with lately given all the discussion about Russia and what constitutes behavior of an entity working on behalf of a foreign government:

Maybe this partnership between @politico & Chinese owned newspaper should be required to register as foreign agent. All media in #China operates with the permission of Communist Party. Can this partnership really report without interference from China? https://t.co/R1uTXmPT0j

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) May 24, 2018

Time will tell whether they can report on China without interference. We should watch this closely. I hope they can pull it off and be able to report honestly and openly. Had ok article yesterday. We shall see. But if not, they should be registered as foreign agent.

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) May 24, 2018

Bravo, Senator, for reminding us all to be watchmen at the gate.

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