Sing Tao Daily
 | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Sing Tao Newspaper Group Limited |
| Founded | 1938 |
| Political alignment | Pro-Beijing (historically pro-ROC) |
| Headquarters | 7 Chun Cheong Street, Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate, Hong Kong Overseas: 188 Lafayette Street, New York City 10013, United States |
| Website | std |
| Sing Tao Daily | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 星島日報 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 星岛日报 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Sing Tao Daily (also known as Sing Tao Jih Pao; Chinese: 星島日報) is among Hong Kong's oldest Chinese language newspapers.[1] It is owned by Sing Tao News Corporation, of which Kwok Ying-shing (Chinese: 郭英成) is chairman. Its English-language sister is the free newspaper The Standard.
Sing Tao's Toronto edition is partly owned by Star Media Group, the publisher of the Toronto Star, a Torstar Corporation company.[2]
History
Sing Tao Daily is the oldest Chinese language daily newspaper in Hong Kong, having commenced publication on 1 August 1938.[3]
The first overseas edition of the paper was launched in 1963 in San Francisco, where the group’s first overseas office was set up in May 1964.[3]
In 1992, Sing Tao Daily, encountering financial difficulties, established a joint publication with the International Culture Publishing Corporation, a front organization for China's Ministry of State Security according to Alex Joske.[4]
Until 2002, the parent company of Sing Tao Daily was Sing Tao Holdings; since then it has been Sing Tao News Corporation.[5]
In June 2021, a real estate developer's daughter from mainland China purchased a majority stake in the company.[6][7]
In August 2021, the U.S. branch of Sing Tao Daily started to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) at the order of the United States Department of Justice. The company said the incident involved libel and it would seek legal actions.[8][6][7]
Political stance
The Sing Tao has a long pro-government history. Before the handover of Hong Kong to China, it supported the Kuomintang and British Hong Kong government; and once Hong Kong was transferred and turned into a special administrative region, the paper turned its support to the Beijing government.[9][10]
Reports of Chinese Communist Party influence
A 2001 article by the Jamestown Foundation claimed that two of Sing Tao's owners were members of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and one editor had previously worked for China Daily.[11] According to a Hoover Institution report, Sing Tao has fallen under Beijing's control after being purchased by a pro-Beijing businessman in May 2001 and now aligns with that of Chinese state media.[12] In 2013 an analyst at Freedom House wrote in a report submitted to the Center for International Media Assistance that in recent decades, several publications including Sing Tao showed patterns that signaled pressure within the media industry to reduce its criticism of the government, including "self-censorship", terminations of "high-risk" contributors, high turnover rates of journalists due to "unpalatable editorial policy", and subtle changes in the coverage of politically sensitive topics such as the Three Ts.[13]
See also
- Headline Daily
- Newspapers of Hong Kong
- Media in Hong Kong
- Newspaper Society of Hong Kong
- Hong Kong Audit Bureau of Circulations
- The Standard (Hong Kong)
- Sing Tao Daily (Canada)
References
- ^ "Sing Tao Daily publishes its last print edition as it shifts focus to online content". The Globe and Mail. 2 September 2022. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
- ^ Blackwell, Tom (3 December 2020). "Inside Canada's Chinese-language media: 'Beijing has become the mainstream,' says ex-Sing Tao editor". National Post. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
- ^ a b Sing Tao Holdings Ltd Annual Report Archived 5 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine 2002, Profile of the Group
- ^ Joske, Alex (2022). Spies and Lies: How China's Greatest Covert Operations Fooled the World. Hardie Grant Books. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-74358-900-7. OCLC 1347020692.
- ^ "Announcements and Circulars | Sing Tao News Corporation Limited". www.singtaonewscorp.com. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
- ^ a b Markay, Lachlan (25 August 2021). "DOJ brands Chinese-owned U.S. newspaper a foreign agent". Axios. Archived from the original on 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
- ^ a b Cheng, Selina (26 August 2021). "US edition of Hong Kong newspaper Sing Tao forced to register as foreign agent". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
- ^ "US edition of Sing Tao told to register as foreign agent". Marketing-Interactive. 27 August 2021. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
- ^ "Editor Dismissed Over Pro-Beijing Edits, Say Sources". Canada Free Press. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
- ^ Yu, Jess Macy (6 October 2014). "Hong Kong Newspapers, Pro- and Anti-Beijing, Weigh In on Protests". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 August 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ^ Duzhe, Mei (21 November 2001). "How China's Government Is Attempting to Control Chinese Media in America". Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ Diamond, Larry; Schell, Orville (29 November 2018). "China's Influence & American Interests: Promoting Constructive Vigilance". Hoover Institution. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ Center for International Media Assistance (22 October 2013). The Long Shadow of Chinese Censorship: How the Communist Party's Media Restrictions Affect News Outlets Around the World. Sara Segal-Williams (ChinaFile).
External links
