The transfer followed the revelation that the CCF was funded by the Central Intelligence Agency through the Farfield Foundation. MacFarquhar said he did not know about the relationship and his editorship was not influenced by the CCF.[7] However, he admitted to knowingly publishing articles provided by the CIA and the British Foreign Office's covert propaganda unit, the Information Research Department, and giving the authors pseudonyms to keep their identities secret.[7]David Wilson succeeded MacFarquhar as editor in 1968.[7]
In August 2017, Cambridge University Press (CUP), the publisher, confirmed that it had removed access to over 300 articles from readers in China following pressure from Chinese government. CUP subsequently reversed its decision and restored the articles,[8] stating that the move was meant to avoid having their entire publication blocked. The press published a list of articles removed, including sensitive topics such as human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Tibet, the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong, and the negative effects of the Cultural Revolution.[9] Several academics criticised CUP's self-censorship, while CUP stated that it was "troubled by the recent increase in requests of this nature" and was committed to academic freedom.[10]