China terms US COMPETES Act as Washington's information war against Beijing

China has termed America's COMPETES Act as Washington yet another information war against Beijing.

Earlier this month, the US House of Representatives passed the America COMPETES Act, a bill focusing on US semiconductor production and supply chains, reported Beijing News.Net.

The Chinese publication claimed that the "industrial" act includes actions to hold China "accountable" for genocide and slave labour, according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and specifically allocates 500 million US dollars for media outlets to smear China.

China claims that this bill echoes the US Innovation and Competition Act of 2021, another hawkish bill against China passed by the US Senate in June 2021, which authorized 300 million dollars to be appropriated for each fiscal year through 2026 to counter China's influence globally.

The Chinese publication said that Washington has been implementing intricate plans to boost the so-called "China threat" narratives and "combat Chinese disinformation" via the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour, and the Agency for Global Media, its state-run foreign media service.

In September 2021, the largest Zimbabwean daily newspaper The Harald claimed that the United States is funding and training local reporters to produce anti-China stories and discredit Chinese investments.

As per the Beijing News.Net report, some private media journalists were told to portray Chinese companies investing in Zimbabwe as "causing harm to communities, environment and workers," receiving payment of 1,000 dollars per story from the US embassy through its proxy.