China Accuses US of Being the True 'Empire of Lies' and Spreading Misinformation

The Chinese foreign ministry has criticized a U.S. State Department report that accused China of manipulating global media through censorship, data harvesting, and covert purchases of foreign news outlets. The report claimed that Beijing had faced setbacks in targeting democratic countries due to push-back from local media and civil society. In response, the Chinese ministry dismissed the report as false information and labeled the United States as the true "empire of lies." This comes amid China's efforts to expand the global reach of its government-controlled media and combat negative portrayals of the country.