All Hell Broke Loose — A Commentary

What Voice of America (VOA) director Amanda Bennett once called the fabulous VOA management team was out to lunch as reporters in VOA’s Mandarin Service were preparing for a potentially explosive interview with Chinese businessman turned whistleblower Guo Wengui. When the Chinese government got wind of the planned interview and threw a fit by issuing an arrest warrant for Mr. Guo, VOA’s top management finally got involved. All hell broke loose as VOA executives scrambled to do their job that they should have done much better and much earlier. They were suddenly deeply concerned that no Chinese Communist Party official who never stood in free and democratic elections be unjustly accused of corruption. In the end, their last-minute intervention only made a difficult situation far worse and damaged VOA’s reputation. Here is the next part of the story.

In early April 2017, reporters in the Voice of America Mandarin Service made the initial contact with Guo Wengui, the Chinese billionaire who became a whistleblower and began exposing incidents of corruption among some of the high-ranking Chinese Communist Party government officials. At that time in early April, top executives in the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) agency which manages VOA were either not informed of this development by lower-level and mid-level managers, or were not paying much attention. They, however, should have paid attention because the interview being arranged by the VOA Mandarin Service promised to be politically sensitive for U.S. relations with China. VOA Mandarin Service reporters contacted Guo Wengui in the United States where he now lives. He left China in 2015, leaving his businesses behind. Many members of his family, including his daughter and brothers, as well as many of his employees and business associates, were arrested.

While he was working in China, Mr. Guo reportedly made numerous deals with hundreds of high-ranking Chinese officials, including some government ministers and members of the Communist Party Politburo. They allegedly took large sum of money from him in bribes. This reportedly led to top security officials ordering Guo Wengui to cooperate with them in an investigation of corruption within the Chinese government. He reportedly claimed that as part of this arrangement with security service officials he collected a great deal of additional evidence of alleged corruption extending all the way to even some of the highest ranking Chinese leaders.

Mr. Guo agreed to talk to the Voice of America and asked to be interviewed by two VOA reporters, Sasha Gong and Fred Wang, whose programs he said he regularly watched. His condition for agreeing to the interview was that it had to be conducted live, but he also agreed to allow VOA reporters to examine the evidence in his possession before the interview. There was a further agreement that the two VOA reporters could challenge him during the interview in any way they wanted.

BBG Watch was told that the final terms of the live interview with Mr. Guo were agreed to on or about April 10. The agrangement was between the VOA Mandarin Service and Mr. Guo. It is not clear whether at this point the upper management of the Voice of America and the Broadcasting Board of Governors was informed by mid-level managers about the terms of the interview. It was to be conducted at an undisclosed place in New York. VOA reporters did not know the actual location where they would meet Mr. Guo until two days before the interview. The live interview was scheduled for April 19th from 9 am to 12 noon. The first hour was VOA’s regular live TV Mandarin program in which guests are often interviewed live. The next two hours were to be aired live via VOA’s social media platforms. Guo Wengui was also to be questioned during those two remaining hours.

It is not clear whether VOA director Amanda Bennett, deputy director Sandy Sugawara and Broadcasting Board of Governor CEO John Lansing were initially aware of the interview with Guo Wengui and aware of its significance, but the mid-level management was informed about what was going on from the beginning. The lower-level management was supportive of the plan from day one, sources told BBG Watch. The East Asian Division, which oversees the Mandarin Service, approved the travel of VOA reporters to New York. BBG Watch could not determine whether their travel requests were also approved at higher levels within the agency. The VOA technical department provided all the necessary support for the interview. The interview was definitely not a secret within several layers of VOA management, of which there are many, even if top VOA and BBG executives appeared to have been initially not involved in any strategizing, planning or preparations. These VOA and BBG executives, however, should have been fully engaged from the very beginning considering the highly controversial topic of the interview and the interviewee himself. As commented earlier by BBG Watch, they were asleep at the wheel. The VOA director was out of the country traveling in Africa. Her deputy Sandy Sugawara was in Washington. Their boss, John Lansing, was not heard from, as far as we know.

On Friday, April 14, the VOA Mandarin Service advertised the planned three-hour interview on TV, its website and its social media pages. It was promoted as a one-hour live TV broadcast followed by two hours of live video streaming on social media.

Only when the Chinese government found out about the planned interview and announced its protest, did VOA’s management emerge from its usual slumber. As reported earlier by BBG Watch in “Asleep at the Wheel,” on Monday, April 17, Bill Ide, the VOA English news service correspondent in Beijing, was summoned by the Chinese Foreign Ministry and was told that the Chinese government objected to the planned interview and wanted it canceled. He met with Ma Yuanchun, director of foreign media relations and Luo Danzhu – a contact person for foreign journalists at the Foreign Ministry’s International Press Center. Bill Ide informed the VOA management in Washington about the Chinese government’s protest in an e-mail sent to Jing Zhang, the chief editor of the East Asian Division. The e-mail was then shared widely with others within VOA.

As reported to Washington by Bill Ide, Chinese officials expressed their deep concern about the announced exclusive interview with Guo Wengui (Miles Kwok) and made it clear that they do not want it to air. They said that by airing the interview it gives them the impression that the Voice of America has some kind of hidden political agenda. One of the officials said it concerns them that VOA is giving a man, whom she described as a wanted criminal in China, a podium without questioning the allegations that he is making.

Ma Yuanchun said that this type of interview is seen as interference in China’s affairs. She said that if VOA goes ahead with the interview, they will respond seriously to this kind of reporting. She didn’t elaborate, but alluded to the impact it could have on the renewal process Chinese visas for VOA correspondents. She also highlighted the “conveniences” the Chinese government is providing VOA journalists who have recently visited China.

The VOA Beijing correspondent said that he did not make any promises and told the Chinese government officials that he would pass their concerns along. They have asked the Voice of America to get back to them as soon as possible.

The VOA Mandarin Service team was made aware of the Chinese government’s protest but saw no reason to cancel the interview. On Monday, the team drove to New York.

While they were still in the car, a manager in the East Asia Division called. In a lengthy conversation, the manager reportedly questioned the ability of the Mandarin Service reporters to verify Mr. Guo Wengui’s allegations. The reporters said that with decades of journalistic experience they can conduct a balanced interview but promised that they would be extra careful. At this point, according to our sources, no decision was made not to go live with the interview or to try to shorten its length.

After arriving New York, Sasha Gong and Fred Wang went to see Guo Wengui. During the meeting lasting about three hours, Mr. Guo reportedly showed them some of the evidence of corruption, bribery, police torture, harassment, and other illegal activities allegedly ordered by high ranking Chinese officials, sources in Washington told BBG Watch after they themselves were briefed about the meeting.

On Tuesday, April 18, the entire Mandarin team went to Mr. Guo’s apartment to set up the cameras and to conduct a pre-interview. BBG Watch was told that the VOA team reached an additional agreement with Mr. Guo that he would only discuss events which he had personally experienced and would not make allegations about any actions that may have been taken by others but were not observed by him personally. He reportedly saw no problems with VOA trying to invite at a later time Chinese leaders and other public figures to tell their side of the story if their names or activities would be mentioned during the interview. There was very little chance, however, that any Chinese government official accused of corruption would agree to be interviewed by VOA.

On Tuesday afternoon, the VOA team in New York was reportedly told by one of the managers in Washington that VOA’s top leadership needed to talk to them urgently. Our sources said that VOA deputy director Sandy Sugawara communicated with the team by phone, while VOA director Amanda Bennett, who was in Africa, communicated by e-mail.

Their intervention from remote locations turned out to be too little, too late and ultimately counterproductive. According to our sources, it was heavy-handed, clumsy and made the situation far worse rather than better. It showed that top VOA executives do not know how to manage foreign language service editors and reporters. VOA journalists said that the top management’s intervention had a major negative impact on how the interview was to be conducted and opened VOA to accusations of caving in to pressure from the Chinese government.

According to our sources, the initial word from top VOA executives was that the VOA Mandarin Service reporters must not conduct a live interview. The VOA team reportedly resisted, pointing out that their 9am-10am TV broadcast is always live with live interviews and has never been changed to accommodate any person. Furthermore, the VOA reporters argued, the Chinese government had no right to demand the cancelation of the interview and should not have any power to influence VOA programs. Mandarin Service reporters also told the VOA leadership that Mr. Guo would not agree to a pre-recorded interview. VOA executives insisted that they were only concerned with upholding high journalistic standards.

The VOA team was told later that the VOA leadership wanted them to reduce the length of the interview both on TV and on Facebook Live. During the course of the shortened interview, VOA Mandarin Service reporters were told not to allow Mr. Guo to make allegations against other people. Top VOA executives insisted that they were not caving to anyone’s pressure, but they would not permit a guest on a VOA program to make serious allegations about other people, including high government officials, without having given those against whom accusations are made an advance chance to respond. The key word was “advance.” There was almost no chance that any Chinese Communist Party officials accused of corruption would agree to be interviewed by the Voice of America, with or without Mr. Guo. The leadership of the organization that under their watch allowed serious one-sided accusations to be made in Voice of America programs against democratically elected American politicians, including President Trump, Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Harry Reid, all of whom had been accused in VOA programs of various political misdeeds without any advance warning and/or a countervailing response, became suddenly extremely concerned with the reputation of unelected Chinese Communist Party government officials.

Voice of America China Guo Wengui Part One

Asleep at the Wheel – A Commentary

The management of the government-funded Voice of America (VOA) was asleep at the wheel when enterprising China service journalists arranged for a rare, exclusive interview with a Chinese businessman Guo Wengui who had found refuge in the United States and offered to expose widespread corruption within the Chinese Communist Party leadership. After the arrangements for a live three-hour mixed VOA TV and social media streaming interview had been completed and publicly announced by VOA, the Chinese government protested and demanded that the interview be canceled. At that point, two top-level VOA executives, both holdovers from the Obama administration and until then practicing hands-off management, suddenly realized that they were dealing with a news story of major importance. They did not see the interview as a major scoop for VOA journalists. After being asleep at the wheel earlier, they started to treat it a potentially major crisis for themselves. It was already too late when they got involved in what appeared to be last-minute clumsy attempts to put pressure on VOA Chinese Branch journalists who had arranged the interview. They tried to get them to renege on their promise to Mr. Guo Wengui to conduct the interview live in three consecutive one-hour segments, the first hour live on satellite TV, followed by the next two hours live on social media platforms. The VOA journalists resisted.

The terms for an interview were admittedly unusual, but the interviewee himself was unusual. What he had to say was potentially of great informational value for the VOA audience in China. Before fleeing to the United States, he made a fortune in real estate and other business deals. He had direct knowledge of major corruption within the upper echelons of the Communist Party.

Mr. Guo Wengui would only agree to a live interview with two VOA reporters whom he trusted, Mandarin Service chief Sasha Gong and Fred Wang, both with many years of journalistic and broadcasting experience. He offered to let them examine prior to the interview various documents in his possession allegedly showing that his claims about various corrupt Communist Party officials were true.

Soon after VOA announced that the interview with Mr. Guo Wengui would air in a few days, the Chinese government issued a warrant for his arrest. This showed that the Chinese officials certainly feared what he might tell VOA. At this point, a news organization that promised a lengthy live interview with such an individual had no choice but to deliver on its promise or be suspected of censorship. VOA risked tarnishing its reputation, not to mention disappointing its audience.

As it turned out, what could have been a major journalistic scoop and a source of great pride for Voice of America journalists, despite their best efforts turned into an embarrassment as information leaked out that VOA executives reportedly tried to prevent the interview from being broadcast live. Failing to stop the live broadcast altogether and thus killing the interview — which was only avoided due to strong resistance from VOA China Branch journalists — the pressure from the management succeeded in cutting the interview short as the second hour was being live-streamed on social media.

Those who watched the first part of the live interview said that it was not a successfully produced, well-flowing program with new information presented and the beginning, as it could have been if it were better planned and done under different circumstances without pressure from the top management. VOA China Branch journalists looked uncomfortable as if they had to work under great constraints. They did well, however, in providing plenty of balance through the pre-recorded Chinese government statement and pressed Mr. Guo Wengui to support his charges of political corruption in China. Despite their efforts, VOA’s reputation among its Chinese audience suffered a serious blow when the interview was suddenly cut short at the beginning of the second hour. The interview failed to live up to what was promised.

None of this had to happen if VOA top and mid-level management had been engaged and competent enough to handle a difficult situation from the very beginning. During the Cold War, VOA knew how to manage and conduct lengthy interviews with highly controversial figures, including at least one former East European communist secret service official and two ambassadors who had sought asylum in the United States. Conducting such interviews successfully requires that the agency in charge has officials with expert knowledge of foreign affairs who are capable of assuring a great deal of internal planning, coordination and supervision.

Why VOA director Amanda Bennett and VOA deputy director Sandy Sugawara were not involved in the initial planning for such a potentially explosive interview can only be explained by general mismanagement and chaos under their watch since they had been selected for their positions by Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) CEO John Lansing. All three lack prior experience in managing U.S. government media, public diplomacy or foreign policy operations. At the very least, John Lansing should have made sure that VOA director and deputy director consult with their counterparts at Radio Free Asia (RFA) and other China experts to seek additional advice. We have found no evidence of Mr. Lansing’s involvement in managing the interview.

The official Voice of America and Broadcasting Board of Governors statement blamed the whole incident on “miscommunication,” but in reality it was the initial hands-off approach followed by extremely poor handling of the situation by the agency top officials and lower level managers. These BBG and VOA executives and managers should have been directly and intensively involved in the planning of such a critical interview from the very beginning. Some veterans of U.S. international Broadcasting observed that it might have been better if the interview were conducted by much better-managed Radio Free Asia, but Mr. Guo Wengui insisted on being interviewed live by the Voice of America. He may have feared that a recorded interview might be edited or never air. In the end, both he and the Chinese audience were let down despite the best efforts of VOA China Branch journalists to offer a first-rate exclusive interview with a controversial but formerly well-connected and highly knowledgeable figure.

Even more troubling is the appearance that the VOA director and the deputy director may have been responding to pressure from the Chinese government even though there is no direct proof that they did, only an appearance of succumbing to pressure. They both vehemently denied being pressured and told the VOA Chinese Branch staffers that their only concern was with upholding high journalistic standards. Ironically, these standards are being violated on a daily basis under their watch in VOA English news service output and in some VOA foreign language services. Recently, VOA conducted an interview and reported an explosive but unsupported allegation that Russia’s President Putin and Syria’s President Assad conspired to test new chemical weapons on civilians in Syria. VOA director and deputy director cannot hope to sleep walk as these potentially explosive interviews are being planned and hope that everything will turn out well in the end. That’s not how U.S. international media organization works or should work.

Internal e-mails and reports shared with BBG Watch by upset VOA China Branch journalists who are furious about the Guo Wengui incident, show that at the very least, these top VOA officials had a limited understanding of the issues and were unprepared to deal effectively with the crisis too late in the game. The mid-level VOA managers appear equally guilty of an initial lack of engagement and subsequent poor management of the crisis. They were trying to deal remotely from Washington with the situation in New York, where the interview was being conducted. It was all far too distant and far too late in what should have been a meticulous planning process but definitely was not.

While lower-level VOA China Branch managers and reporters can also be criticized for rushing into the interview without negotiating better terms with Mr. Guo Wengui and seeking more guidance, they were no doubt responding to Ms. Bennett’s strong advocacy for “investigative reporting.” It was she and her deputy who failed to provide proper leadership, supervision and effective communication channels. The VOA China Branch was not operating on its own. Mid-level managers were informed that the interview was being planned and extensive technical support was provided. VOA lower level managers and journalists fear that, as usual, they might be blamed for the “miscommunication” while the mid-level and upper-level managers and executives will continue doing business as usual.

BBG Watch has received a number of e-mails and reports showing how the incident developed and will present them in three parts, which we tentatively titled: “Asleep at the Wheel,” “All Hell Broke Loose in DC” and “Reputation Damaged.”

Two weeks ago, the preparations for the live Voice of America China Branch interview with Mr. Guo Wengui were moving forward, top VOA and BBG officials seemed blissfully unaware or unconcerned about any potential problems, VOA director Amanda Bennett was traveling on official business in Africa, and on air and online announcements about the interview were made. Then the Chinese government expressed its displeasure and everything changed.

On Monday, April 17, Bill Ide, the VOA English Newsroom correspondent in Beijing, was summoned by the Chinese Foreign Ministry and later sent an e-mail to Jing Zhang, the chief editor of the East Asian Division. The e-mail was shared widely within VOA.

He met with Ma Yuanchun, director of foreign media relations and Luo Danzhu – a contact person for foreign journalists at the Foreign Ministry’s International Press Center. Ma expressed deep concern about the announced exclusive interview with Guo Wengui (Miles Kwok) and made it clear that they do not want it to air.

During the discussion, Ma cited a range of concerns and said that by airing the interview it gives them the impression that the Voice of America has some kind of hidden political agenda. She said it concerns them that VOA giving a man, whom she described as a wanted criminal in China, a podium without questioning the allegations that he is making. Both Chinese government officials also expressed concern that this is happening ahead of the 19th Communist Party congress.

Ma also said that this type of interview is seen as interference in China’s affairs. She said that if VOA goes ahead with the interview, they will respond seriously to this kind of reporting. She didn’t elaborate, but alluded to the impact it could have on the renewal process Chinese visas for VOA correspondents. She also highlighted the “conveniences” the Chinese government is providing VOA journalists who have recently visited China.

The VOA Beijing correspondent said that he did not make any promises told them that he would pass their concerns along. They have asked the Voice of America to get back to them as soon as possible.

After that, all hell broke loose among VOA executives and top managers who were previously asleep at the wheel.

CUSIB Asks for Investigation About Why VOA China Service Cut Live-Stream Interview with Chinese Billionaire Guo Wengui

The Committee for US International Broadcasting (www.cusib.org) has released the following statement:

“In an effort to protect Voice of America China Service from being unfairly influenced or manipulated by outside political sources, the Committee for US International Broadcasting is asking for a thorough congressional investigation about what transpired on April 19, 2017 during a VOA live-stream broadcast of Chinese billionaire Gui Wengui as he spoke about corruption in China.

Guo Wengui was described by The New York Times as a “Chinese-born billionaire who in recent months has publicized allegations of corruption against relatives of high-ranking Communist Party officials is now a wanted man after Beijing asked Interpol to issue a global request for his arrest.” He was in New York doing an exclusive live interview with Voice of America.

CUSIB shares the concerns of Chinese viewers who tuned in to that interview and want to know why it was abruptly cut, thereby damaging the journalistic integrity and reputation of VOA among those viewers. The official explanation from the Voice of America and its parent agency, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), that it was a case of “miscommunication” is in itself troubling as it shows that the U.S. agency created to communicate with the world continues to be mismanaged.

Was VOA influenced by political powers to cut the live-stream broadcast, and if so, who was involved? More specifically, who in VOA gave the order to censor the broadcast of Guo Wengui, and who may have pressured VOA to censor this special live-stream broadcast?

CUSIB urges VOA’s audience to remain vigilant about this very serious matter and to demand for VOA to remain true to its mission statement to be “accurate, objective, and comprehensive.”

For further information, please contact Ann Noonan at (646) 251-6069 or Ted Lipien at (415) 793-1642.

END OF CUSIB PRESS RELEASE

Voice of America China Guo Wengui Part Two

All Hell Broke Loose — A Commentary

Voice of America China Guo Wengui Part One

Asleep at the Wheel – A Commentary

READ MORE: POLICIES & POLITICS Plug pulled on US interview with wanted Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui, Robert Delaney, US correspondent, South China Morning Post, UPDATED : Thursday, 20 Apr 2017, 10:48PM

READ MORE: CUSIB Asks for Investigation About Why VOA China Service Cut Live-Stream Interview with Chinese Billionaire Guo Wengui, CUSIB, April 21, 2017

READ MORE: CUSIB concerned about partisanship and mismanagement at BBG and VOA, CUSIB, April 21, 2017

BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS / VOICE OF AMERICA

CUSIB PRESS RELEASE

CUSIB Asks for Investigation About Why VOA China Service Cut Live-Stream Interview with Chinese Billionaire Guo Wengui

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Voice of America China Guo Wengui Part I

VOA China Fought Mgmt Push To Limit Guo Wengui Interview -- Part III