(Tribune News Service) — State Rep. Gene Ward questions why free copies of the Chinese Communist Party’s China Daily newspaper are delivered to House members given China’s ongoing provocations, including suspicions that China flew an intelligence-gathering balloon over Kauai in 2022.

“Given what’s going on with the balloons, my question is, Why is Communist propaganda being distributed at the state Capitol ?” asked Ward, (R, Hawaii Kai-Kalama Valley ). “It’s clearly the propaganda arm owned by the CCP in Beijing.”

He told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the English-language China Daily contains “high-level academics. It’s quite nuanced. But it’s totally propaganda.”

During 2022’s legislative session, stacks of the China Daily sat outside the House Sergeant of Arms office in the basement of the state Capitol.

This year, representatives can ask to have it delivered to their offices, along with the locally produced Filipino Chronicle and Fil-Am Courier.

“Before, you had to pick it up, “ Ward said. “It’s gotten worse. Now they deliver it.”

House Speaker Scott Saiki told the Star-Advertiser that the newspapers are dropped off for free at the Capitol, and representatives are not required to accept them. Saiki said that he declined to have the China Daily delivered to his office.

“If they don’t want a newspaper, they can choose not to have it delivered, which is what I did, “ Saiki said. “We don’t pay for it. Someone drops it off at the Capitol. I’m not going to take the position that I can determine what is and what is not delivered to a member’s office.”

The China Daily, Filipino Chronicle and Fil-Am Courier are distributed by the staff of the House Sergeant of Arms, who also deliver House members’ mail to their offices, Saiki said.

Before the recent spate of warplane shoot-downs of Chinese intelligence-gathering balloons, U.S. fighter jets scrambled over Kauai’s Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility to greet another balloon on Valentine’s Day 2022.

In August, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, triggering a military response not seen in almost 30 years—according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace—that included military exercises around Taiwan, ballistic missile launches over the island and cyberattacks.

In a follow-up email to the Star-Advertiser, Ward wrote, “It’s pretty obvious what the CCP is up to in the State Legislatures of this nation.”

This session, Ward introduced a bill to ban the wildly popular TikTok app from state-issued devices, part of a national push intended to prevent breaches of sensitive information to China. Ward’s bill appears stalled.

In an email to Saiki, Ward wrote : “Whether you agree or not, China has been declared our nation’s biggest adversary and is the foundational pillar of our nation’s foreign policy. Given all the federal funds we have received plus Pearl Harbor just down the freeway from us, this communist newspaper being distributed at the Hawaii state legislators could make us look like communist-­sympathizers.

“In similar foreign policy fashion, “ Ward wrote, “would you also allow Russia to distribute their PRAVDA newspaper at the Hawaii State Capitol ?”

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