How America wrote the rule book on ‘foreign agents’

C.K. Yeung says America’s recent move to have RT register as a foreign agent relates to a 1938 law, with Russia and Australia taking copycat action. If Hong Kong was to do the same, it would only be following the master player

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The US has a network of agents stationed in different corners of the globe to make the world more congenial to American interests. The Americans know only too well what these “foreign agents” can do, and they are not about to let other nations do likewise. Illustration: Craig Stephens

Published: 5:33pm, 22 Dec 2017Updated: 7:33pm, 22 Dec 2017

The US government, in an ominous move last month, required the RT (formerly Russia Today) news network to register its American office as a “foreign agent”. Later in the same month, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a committee of the US Congress, proposed that all official Chinese media personnel working in America comply with the same requirement. Had Hong Kong required foreign media outlets to do the same, it would have been met with howls of protest and accusations of infringing on the freedom of the press.

This regulatory requirement was imposed pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Its language is simple, its intent clear and its power sweeping. In short, it stipulates that all foreign agents report to the US Department of Justice on who they work for, what they do, and how much they are paid.

It is interesting to note that one of the charges levelled against Donald Trump’s former election campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, in the so-called Russia-gate probe was his alleged violation of this act. Specifically, it refers to his having served as a lobbyist for the Ukrainian government during 2015-16, without registering as a foreign agent.

Watch: US Congress revokes RT America’s accreditation on Capitol Hill

The US does not brook any foreign interference with its politics or election process. It has put in place a series of firewalls against such a possibility. Under this act, foreign agents must operate in the sunshine and be subject to close monitoring; they must also report their source of funds and how they are spent.

The US does not brook any foreign interference with its politics or election process

This act dates as far back as 1938. You would have to marvel at the US government’s farsightedness in foreseeing the need for such a piece of legislation.

The explanation is simple. The US has a network of agents stationed in different corners of the globe to make the world more congenial to American interests. The Americans know only too well what these “foreign agents” can do, and they are not about to let other nations do likewise.

By contrast, while Hong Kong is known to be home to a proliferation of international spy networks and listening posts, it doesn’t have a similar piece of legislation.

The Russians have arrived late to this game. It was only last month that they scrambled to pass similar legislation, called the Non-Governmental Organisations Act, more in retaliation against the US than in anticipation of its actions, subjecting all American media based in Russia to registration and regulatory control, and mandating periodic reports of activities and flow of funds.

Watch: Putin signs off on foreign media intervention law

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