Germany’s “leading China expert” in the United Front network

Frank Sieren is a pragmatist. The journalist, who has lived in Beijing for almost 30 years, has learned to classify China’s politics soberly. The corona measures imposed by the dictatorship in the summer of 2020? Cannot be imitated one-to-one in the West. But: “It wouldn’t hurt to reflect on which measures (…) could also be adapted in Europe.” Western concerns about China’s new dominance in world politics? Sieren calls for more understanding. It is possible that “there is room for two world powers in the world”.

Sieren is considered one of the leading German China experts. The 57-year-old has written numerous books about the country, one together with the now deceased former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. He currently writes for the “Berliner Zeitung”, among others. But what has so far gone almost unnoticed is that his assessments also appear in a paper that experts describe as part of a covert Chinese influence operation. Critics accuse the “China Rundschau” of spreading propaganda. The publication belongs to a Europe-wide network of media known as “Nouvelles D’Europe” – and is said to be close to a department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party.

The construct is complicated. The German publisher, which sells not only a Chinese-language weekly newspaper but also the German-language “China Rundschau”, has its headquarters in Frankfurt/Main. According to the commercial register, the sole shareholder is a company based in France. A Hong Kong company holds 90 percent of the shares in this French company. This was founded by the United Labor Front Central Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Its shareholders are also said to have direct connections to this same department, also known as the United Front.

According to Western intelligence agencies, the United Front is a network of organizations aimed at exerting influence on universities, think tanks and public opinion in general. President Xi Jinping described it as his “magic weapon.” The Prague-based think tank Sinopsis describes Nouvelles D’Europe as a “broad media group” that monitors “the United Front’s propaganda work across the continent.” The medium primarily spreads news that puts China and the policies of the Communist Party in a good light.

How can this be reconciled with Sieren’s role as an independent journalist? He also gives a pragmatic answer: “I don’t work for the ‘China Rundschau’. In the commission process, they are reprinting texts from me that have already appeared in other German media.” When asked whether he had agreed to this use and whether he would be compensated for it, he no longer answered the question. One would also like to know what Sieren says about the allegations against “Nouvelles D’Europe”. After all, Sieren has repeatedly expressed criticism about aspects of Chinese politics and history in books and interviews.

His articles, reprinted by the “China Rundschau”, are now limited to success stories. He recently reported on a Chinese company that had developed a diesel “that is 25 percent better than German engines.” “Improvement,” “revolution,” “turning point,” “declaration of war”: such words dominated Sieren’s article in the paper.

Editor-in-chief Xudong Hu answered a query from “Nouvelles D’Europe”. Will you get any money? “I don’t think he writes for free.” Hu downplays the accusations of spreading propaganda. You are an independent medium, not a tool of the state. Just this much: “We love our country and are logically close to China.”

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