A major pro-Beijing newspaper has registered its U.S. subsidiary as a foreign agent after being compelled to by the Justice Department, as Washington steps up scrutiny of Chinese influence efforts in the United States. Sing Tao U.S., whose parent company operates Hong Kong’s oldest newspaper, distributes newspapers in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. It also runs a U.S.-based radio network and the Chinese Times, a daily newspaper that has become dormant. Sing Tao has disputed the Justice Department’s decision, stating that their U.S. entities are “similarly situated to other for-profit media companies operating in the United States,” according to an Aug. 23 filing with the department. While the newspaper is not formally affiliated with the Chinese regime, Sing Tao has taken a strong pro-Beijing stance under the oversight of pro-Beijing businessman Charles Ho Tsu-kwok, who for over two decades has chaired Sing Tao’s Hong Kong-based parent company, Sing …