In a decisive move against foreign influence, the UK House of Commons has ended the unsolicited distribution of China Daily, a Chinese Communist Party–owned newspaper, to Members of Parliament (MPs).
The decision follows a formal review prompted by concerns over Beijing’s propaganda efforts and misuse of public resources. Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, confirmed the change on Tuesday, calling the practice “completely wrong.”
“It was entirely wrong for this Chinese Communist Party attempt to exert influence over British politics to be inadvertently funded by British taxpayers,” Kearns said, accusing Beijing of promoting “a false narrative on the many human rights atrocities they have committed and the immense security threat they present.”
According to The Daily Mail, China Daily had been delivered free of charge to MPs for nearly a decade. Critics raised alarm over the presence of Chinese state propaganda inside the UK’s democratic institutions.
Nick Smith, chair of the House of Commons Administration Committee, stated in response to Kearns’ inquiry that new bulk mail distribution rules will now limit unsolicited materials. Publications like China Daily can only be delivered if MPs explicitly opt in—so far, none have done so.
The UK’s decision mirrors action taken in the United States earlier this year, when Republican Congressman Abraham Hamadeh spearheaded a resolution in March to stop China Daily’s delivery through the U.S. House of Representatives’ mail system. Hamadeh argued that “there are no circumstances under which the halls of Congress should ever become the domain of foreign propaganda.”
Owned by the Chinese Communist Party’s Publicity Department, China Daily is widely regarded as a vehicle for Beijing’s global messaging. While it publishes English-language editions worldwide, rights advocates say the paper systematically omits or downplays China’s severe human rights abuses in East Turkestan (Xinjiang), Tibet, and Hong Kong, while amplifying anti-Western narratives.
Implications for Tibet and Other Suppressed Regions
For Tibetans and other oppressed peoples, the removal of China Daily from legislative corridors in the UK and US is a notable pushback against the normalization of Beijing’s propaganda in democratic spaces. It marks a growing awareness among Western lawmakers that allowing CCP-controlled narratives into official channels undermines transparency, democracy, and human rights advocacy.
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