WASHINGTON, D.C. — A special investigative report by Reuters showed that the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department is conducting a federal investigation on a California radio company that is reportedly backed by a subsidiary of the Chinese government.
Reuters reports that G&E Studio Inc., a Los Angeles-based company, is 60 percent owned by a subsidiary of China Radio International, a Chinese state-run broadcaster based in Beijing. The California radio firm is owned by James Su, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Shanghai.
The FCC monitors indecency and political advertising in news content but otherwise does not restrict content broadcast on U.S. radio stations. By U.S. law, foreign governments or their representatives are not allowed to own more than 25% of a station’s U.S. parent corporation without FCC approval.
In a Sept. 16 interview, Su said that he is merely a businessman and not an agent of China. “Our U.S. audience and our U.S. public has the choice,” Su said. “They can choose to listen or not listen. I think this is an American value.”
Su also argued that the company is not doing anything illegal since it does not own any U.S. radio stations, but only leases air time from two radio stations.
G&E Studio Inc. broadcasts over 14 different cities in the U.S., including Boston, Washington, Philadelphia and San Francisco. There are at least 33 radio stations in 14 countries in CRI’s global network.
Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the U.S. requires anyone seeking to influence U.S. public opinion on behalf of foreign agents to register with the Justice Department. However, neither Su nor his companies are registered.
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