Irish Times under fire for page of China propaganda

Irish president Michael D. Higgins with Chinese ambassador to Ireland He Xiangdong in 2019
Irish president Michael D. Higgins with Chinese ambassador to Ireland He Xiangdong in 2019
MAXWELL PHOTOGRAPHY/XINHUA/ALAMY LIVE NEWS

The Irish Times has been criticised for publishing a full-page advertorial from the Chinese government last week containing a 1,500-word article marking the 100-year anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The newspaper, whose rate card sets a full-page colour ad at €34,000, ran the paid-for-content on page five of its news section under an “advertisement” heading last Thursday. The accompanying article by He Xiangdong, the Chinese ambassador, claimed the CCP enjoyed “solid” support from its people, and highlighted China’s vastly improved standards of living in recent decades.

The article, reposted online by the embassy, made no reference to mistreatment of its Uighur population in Xinjiang, or the anti-democracy clampdown in Hong Kong. It claimed China observed “universally recognised international law and norms”