New York Times: Sri Lankan American multi-millionaire allegedly supporting China's propaganda efforts

A prominent tech multi-millionaire is allegedly behind a complex web of organizations that defend the actions of the People's Republic of China.

A New York Times investigation published Aug. 5 suggests that Neville Roy Singham is at the center of funding a propaganda machine that aims to defend Chinese state interests and disseminates its propaganda through media and a tangle of US nonprofit organizations.

Neville Roy Singham, born in 1954 in the United States, is the son of Archibald Wickeramaraja Singham, a renowned Sri Lankan political scientist and historian, who was a professor of political science at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York.

Neville Singham pursued economics at Howard University. After school, in 1983, he founded  Chicago-based ThoughtWorks, which quickly became a leading global IT consulting firm.

FYI: Read the full New York Times report.

The company's success thrust Singham in the business world and was named one of the "50 Global Thinkers," according to Foreign Policy magazine in 2009. 

However, in recent years, his focus has shifted towards political activism. The NYT investigation alleges that Singham is a strong supporter of the Chinese Communist Party, and he has contributed substantial funds to groups that publicised Chinese state media's propaganda. 

The New York Times investigation further reveals that Singham established a network of nonprofits and shell companies that defends the PRC actions and propagates globally the PRC agenda of becoming the top power in the world.

Singham's influence extends from Asia to South Africa and Europe to the Americas.

At the center of Singham's network are four nonprofits that are only UPS addresses in New York City. From these so-called nonprofits, Singham's money flowed throughout the world.

The NYTimes investigation followed the money to a South African political party that funded campaigns for political office, YouTube channels in the US that has garnered millions of views, and other nonprofits in Ghana, Zambia and Brazil.

In the US, the activist Code Pink  that used to criticize China human rights abuses, receives funding from Singham, according to the NYT. Since Singham married one of Code Pink's founders, Jodie Evans, the once-leftist group now portrays the authoritarian regime as "a defender of the oppressed and a model for economic growth without slavery or war," reports the NYT.

India's Enforcement Directorate is investigating the funding sources of  Delhi-based news website NewsClick, which has been found to feature Chinese government talking points in its coverage. The NYT probe alleges that financing from Singham is dictating the website's journalistic bias. 

Singham's Shanghai headquarters shares office space with a Chinese media company called Maku Group, which says its goal is to “tell China's story well,” a common euphemism for foreign propaganda.

Singham defends his actions by asserting that he intends to foster peace and understanding between China and Western nations.

Singham, 69, denies the alleged ties to the PRC or the Chinese Communist Party in an email to the NY Times. He says he abides by the tax laws in the countries where he was active.

“I categorically deny and repudiate any suggestion that I am a member of, work for, take orders from, or follow instructions of any political party or government or their representatives,” he wrote in an email to the NYT. “I am solely guided by my beliefs, which are my long-held personal views.”

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