The US publication National Review on April 7 stated that Phoenix TV is owned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The report said at the White House briefing on April 6, a Phoenix Television reporter asked President Trump whether he is “personally working directly with China” on securing medical supplies. “Only last week, there were multiple flights coming from China full of medical supplies,” the reporter said. “Companies like Huawei and Alibaba have been donating to the United States, like 1.5 million N95 masks and also a lot of medical gloves, and many more medical supplies.” “Sounds like a statement more than a question,” Trump answered, “Who are you working for, China?” The reporter said no and named Phoenix TV as her outlet, calling it a “privately-owned company.” Later, Senator Ted Cruz pointed out that Phoenix TV  “has been waging information warfare in the U.S. for years. They are nominally private but actually state owned (by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)).” Representative Paul Gosar, an Arizona Republican, also asked in a tweet, “Why is an outlet with such close ties to Communist China allowed in the White House briefing room?” The National Review reported that a former Phoenix TV news director, Chung Pong, who said that then Chinese president Jiang Zemin fired him in 2002, testified to the U.S. Federal Communication Committee (FCC) in 2018 that the Chinese government had tight enough control of the outlet that it was able to order the removal of specific news items that “positively reported [on] the United States or events in the United States.” He added  “I know from personal experience that Phoenix TV’s content is subject to the dictates of the leadership of the CCP Central Committee’s Propaganda Department, the CCP Central Committee’s Overseas Propaganda Office, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which has often sent instructions directly to Phoenix Satellite TV.” Epoch Times reported that several Phoenix key personnel have close ties to the government:

Liu Changle, born in 1951, is the Chairman and CEO of Phoenix TV.  He joined the army at the age of 19. He graduated from the Beijing Broadcasting Institute in 1983; was assigned to China National Radio (CNR) as a military reporter; and successively moved up as an editor, news commentator, and Director of the Editorial Department. He always held a military rank while working at the CNR. Liu said that he was at the level of Colonel in the late 1980s.

Wang Jiyan, Executive Director and former Executive Vice President and Director of the Chinese Language Station, was a member of the China Film Administration’s five-member group to study overseas media.

Shao Wenguang, Director of the European Station, was a Minister-Counselor to the United States.

Cui Qiang, Executive Deputy CEO, Executive Director, Chairman of Phoenix New Media, worked at the CNR for 10 years.

Yu Tonghao, a senior consultant and former Executive Vice President and Co-founder of Phoenix TV, served the Director of the Guangdong Radio Station, the Director of the Pearl River Economic Station, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Guangdong Provincial TV Station, Deputy General Manager of China Radio and Television International Economic and Technical Cooperation Corporation, and Director of China Radio and Television Society, before.

The Hoover Institution’s report, “Chinese Influence & American Interests: Promoting Constructive Vigilance” about the CCP’s infiltration in U.S. media industry, released on November 29, 2018, mentioned that Phoenix TV tried to buy two FM radio stations in Los Angles but was blocked. Then it went through H&H Capital Partners to purchase the radio station XEWW in Tijuana city, Mexico, which is on the U.S.-Mexico border. They then changed the station to broadcast in Chinese instead of Spanish. The document that H&H Capital Partners submitted to the FCC showed Phoenix was the buyer.