Special to CosmicTribune.com, August 11, 2026

In a highly structured pay-to-play operation, a Chinese influence group offered American journalists all-expenses-paid trips to China and access to top officials with the goal of the journalists returning to the U.S. with a significantly improved opinion of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The Better Hong Kong Foundation is the group which said it “sponsored and organized” the trips, Natalie Winters noted in an Aug. 10 substack analysis. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs helped arrange meetings with senior central and local government officials.

While the Better Hong Kong Foundation is officially registered as a privately funded, non-profit, and politically non-affiliated organization, analysts note it maintains strong, well-documented ties to the interests and influence networks of the CCP as an active component of Beijing’s “United Front” strategy.

Related: Investigation: 26 legacy media journalists took pay-for-play junkets to Communist China, July 28, 2026

Winters noted that the pay-for-play-style arrangement provided the American media personalities “airfare, hotels, meals and privileged access to Chinese ministries, state media, government-selected companies and senior officials inside the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a central institution in the Chinese Communist foreign influence and espionage apparatus. The objective was not simply to show reporters China. It was to change what they told the American people about it.”

Winters continued: “The Better Hong Kong Foundation’s relationship with the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference is central to understanding the operation.”

The CPPCC is not simply a ceremonial parliament or harmless civic organization.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission describes it as a major coordinating institution in the Communist Party’s United Front system. It is used to organize cooperation with business figures, intellectuals, civic leaders and other influential people outside the Party’s formal ranks.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission says United Front operations seek to “co-opt and neutralize” opposition to the CCP. Its external propaganda apparatus seeks to “control international perceptions of China” and increase Beijing’s power over global narratives.

The same U.S. government commission warns that overseas United Front operations can involve “political influence, intelligence collection, and technology transfer.”

Winters listed the 54 American journalists sponsored through the program:

1. Saeed Ahmed: supervising news editor at CNN. Now: vice president of news for digital platforms at the Associated Press, leading APNews, social media and other direct-to-audience platforms.

2. Robert Little: senior investigative editor at NPR. Now: leads NPR’s investigations team across its broadcast and digital platforms.

3. Stephen Stromberg: editorial writer at The Washington Post. Now: New York Times opinion editor for politics and economics.

4. Juliet Lapidos: staff editor at The New York Times. Now: deputy editor at The Atlantic.

5. Autumn Brewington: op-ed page editor at The Washington Post.

6. Holly Yeager: Middle East and Asia editor at The Washington Post.

7. Carrie Halperin: producer for CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS.

8. Elizabeth Ralph: deputy editor of Politico Magazine. Now: ideas editor at the San Francisco Standard, where she leads opinion and ideas coverage. She previously became editor-in-chief of Politico Magazine.

9. Doyle McManus: Washington columnist for the Los Angeles Times.

10. Rebecca Davis: senior video producer at NBC News.

11. Kevin Beesley: Asia editor at NPR.

12. Leslie Norton: Asia editor at Barron’s. Now: editor-at-large at Morningstar.

13. Brian Wingfield: energy and trade reporter at Bloomberg.

14. Valerie Volcovici: correspondent at Reuters. Now: Reuters correspondent covering energy, climate and environmental policy.

15. Diane Bartz: reporter at Reuters.

16. Alan Wirzbicki: editorial-page writer and editor at The Boston Globe.

17. Alexander Kingsbury: deputy ideas editor at The Boston Globe.

18. Michael Freedman: senior editor at Newsweek.

19. John Schoen: senior producer at MSNBC.com.

20. Adam Behsudi: trade reporter at Politico.

21. Michael Stratford: reporter at Politico. Now: covers economic policy, financial regulation, the Treasury Department and student debt for Politico.

22. Mariana Keller: senior video producer at NBC News.

23. Jake Heller: producer and host at NBC News.

24. Jesus Ayala: producer at ABC News.

25. Oren Dorell: foreign-affairs correspondent at USA Today.

26. Joshua Keating: staff writer at Slate. Now: senior correspondent at Vox covering foreign policy and international conflict.

27. Evelyn Cheng: staff writer at CNBC. Now: CNBC’s Beijing correspondent covering China’s economy and financial markets.

28. Mary Childs: senior reporter at Barron’s.

29. Benjamin Bartenstein: emerging-markets reporter at Bloomberg.

30. Jessica Schulberg: foreign-affairs reporter at HuffPost.

31. Alexander Kaufman: reporter at HuffPost.

32. Don Lee: economics reporter for the Los Angeles Times and Tribune Washington Bureau.

33. Alexander Travelli: Asia online editor at The Economist.

34. Erica Grieder: Southwest correspondent at The Economist.

35. Roya Wolverson: senior writer at Time.

36. Kopin Tan: senior editor at Barron’s.

37. Sandra Ward: senior editor at Barron’s.

38. Joe Schatz: senior writer at Congressional Quarterly.

39. Patricia Hill: chief economic correspondent at The Washington Times.

40. Jeffrey Chu: articles editor at Fast Company.

41. Nathan Bomey: reporter at the Detroit Free Press.

42. Daniel Beekman: reporter at The Seattle Times.

43. Lomi Kriel: reporter at the Houston Chronicle.

44. Andy Curliss: state-government editor at The News & Observer.

45. Janet Cho: business reporter at The Plain Dealer.

46. Liz Jones: reporter at KUOW Public Radio.

47. Robert Chaney: staff writer at the Missoulian.

48. David Whiting: Page One columnist at the Orange County Register.

49. Marc Stewart: reporter and substitute anchor at KMGH-TV, Denver’s ABC affiliate.

50. William Luckie: news anchor and reporter at KLTV.

51. Pia Lopez: associate editor at The Sacramento Bee.

52. Robert Ballenger: editor and producer at NPR.

53. Tom Waseleski: editorial-page editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

54. Karin Caifa: producer at CNN Newsource.

The program “deliberately sought senior journalists from influential American media organizations,” Winters noted.

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