Photos of Michael Bloomberg, as well as other senior executives holding positions at the highest levels of his media conglomerate, Bloomberg LP, have been published, detailing meetings between the executives and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) going back as far as 2015, as reported by Breitbart.
The photos are being published by Alexander Marlow, current editor-in-chief of Breitbart News, in his new book, “ Breaking the News: Exposing the Establishment Media’s Hidden Deals and Secret Corruption.” The collection of photos were originally published by the State Council Information Office (SCIO) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on their website but were not previously published in any U.S. media.
The SCIO is also referred to as the “Central Office of Foreign Propaganda.” It is an administrative office under the State Council, the chief administrative body of the PRC.
In one photo, it shows Bloomberg meeting with Jiang Jianguo, director of the SCIO in August, 2015. Jiang is the vice minister of propaganda for the CCP.
Per the Chinese government, Bloomberg discussed “cooperation in the field of media,” and “the introduction of Chinese stories to the world,” while “strengthening media cooperation between China and the U.S.” during the meetings.
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In another photo, from December 2015, Bloomberg LP global executive vice president, Kevin Sheekey, can be seen meeting with Jiang as well as other members of the SCIO’s Internet Affairs Bureau (IAB). The IAB is responsible for Chinese internet censorship on the mainland and beyond.
Sheekey was Michael Bloomberg’s campaign manager during his 2020 U.S. presidential run.
Bloomberg poured millions of dollars into a short-lived 2020 presidential campaign prior to dropping out of the race and endorsing Joe Biden for president.
According to China’s SCIO, Bloomberg executives also met with senior Chinese officials in July of 2016 to discuss the “Belt and Road,” among other topics.
The “Belt and Road” or “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) is a Chinese foregin policy strategy that aims to exert influence abroad by investing in infrastructure projects in developing nations. The initiative has been largely panned as “debt-trap diplomacy”. Countries participating in the initiative find themselves unable to pay back funds loaned to them for a variety of infrastructure projects allowing China to exert immense influence on the exploited nation.
In yet another meeting in June of 2017, Sheekey again met with Jiang, the communist propaganda minister, and according to the Chinese government, “they talked about China-U.S. media exchanges and cooperation, the introduction of Chinese stories to the world, and efforts to promote healthy and stable relations between the two countries.”
Breitbart’s Marlow details numerous meetings between CCP officials and Bloomberg executives including meetings with John Micklethwait, editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News in April 2018 and Otis Bilodeau, senior executive editor for Bloomberg Asia Pacific in July 2018.
“This appears to go far beyond ‘cozying up to China.’ According to the Chinese government, Bloomberg executives regularly fly to China to meet with top Communist Party members, including propagandists, in order to forge deep partnership on all manner of issues.”, reports Breitbart.
Bloomberg LP under CCP control on the mainland
Bloomberg is one of the largest foreign distributors of financial data within China. As such, they are forced to seek licensure from the SCIO every 24-months in order to continue to operate on the mainland, reports Breitbart.
The SCIO or the “Central Office of Foreign Propaganda” is an agency under the auspices of China’s State Council. The SCIO takes direction from the highest echelons of the red regime.
The SCIO has the authority to bar Bloomberg for any number of reasons, essentially “leashing” the Western media conglomerate in its activities in the PRC.
“Not only is Bloomberg’s access to the Chinese market subject to review and cancellation by the Communist Party every twenty-four months, the CCP can (and will) restrict any content it believes undermines the national interest.” reports Brietbart.
Michael Bloomberg has spoken about the Chinese regime in a flattering manner in the past, going so far as to say that Xi Jinping, China’s leader and head of the Communist Party, answers to a “constituency.”
In an interview with PBS’s Firing Line, in 2019, Bloomberg stated that Xi Jinping “is not a dictator,” despite Xi and the CCP not answering to any public democratic process.
The SCIO was formed in 1991 with the goal of improving the Chinese government’s international image following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and subsequent massacre.
