Skip to main content

Activity Category: Media Engagement Activity

Hong Kong Security Bureau and i-CABLE Launch National Security Series

Written by Editors on .

On June 30, 2026, Hong Kong’s Security Bureau launched NS Files: Decoded (國安檔案解密), a five-episode television series produced directly by the bureau to mark the sixth anniversary of the Hong Kong National Security Law’s implementation. The series revisited five prosecuted national security cases, including that of motorcyclist Leon Tong Ying-kit (唐英傑), the law’s first convicted defendant. It aired on Hong Kong broadcaster i-CABLE’s HOY78 channel, hosted by television personality Ken Chan (陳啟泰) alongside National Security Department Chief Superintendent Steve Li Kwai-wah (李桂華). Security Secretary Chris Tang (鄧炳強) said the program aimed to remind the public that national security risks persist. In clear coordination of the campaign with PRC state media, the bureau confirmed to the Global Times, an outlet under the Chinese Communist Party’s official newspaper, the People’s Daily, that each episode was also uploaded to its official Douyin account, extending the series to mainland Chinese audiences, while China News Service reported on the launch by citing Hong Kong media coverage. Hong Kong’s National Security Law was imposed directly by China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee in 2020. Because the law has a direct impact on the media environment and media freedoms in Hong Kong, and because the territory’s national security enforcement operates in coordination with central government bodies, this database treats media and national security cooperation in Hong Kong as a cross-territory engagement.

RTHK and China’s Foreign Ministry Office Produce Diplomacy Contest Series

Written by Editors on .

On June 22, 2025, Hong Kong’s public broadcaster RTHK aired coverage of the 17th Hong Kong Cup Diplomatic Knowledge Contest (香港盃外交知識競賽), part of an ongoing diplomacy-knowledge education program the broadcaster produces annually. Running since 2007, the contest is jointly organized by the Office of the Commissioner of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong’s Education Bureau, and the Better Hong Kong Foundation, and is aimed at secondary and primary school students. RTHK’s coverage, linked above, described its content as built around “diplomatic knowledge, the Basic Law, and the Greater Bay Area,” intended to deepen public understanding of China’s diplomacy and its relevance to Hong Kong. A launch ceremony for the 17th edition was held in December 2024 at the Foreign Ministry’s Hong Kong office, officiated by Deputy Commissioner Li Yongsheng (李永勝), Better Hong Kong Foundation chief executive Sonia Tang Shuk-tak (鄧淑德), and then-RTHK Director of Broadcasting Cheung Kwok-choi (張國財).

Sing Tao News Corporation and HK Police Run National Security Youth Contests

Written by Editors on .

Hong Kong’s National Security Department, a unit of the Hong Kong Police Force, organized NStudio (NStudio同心‧共創‧護國安), a national security-themed marketing proposal competition for primary and secondary school students, with Sing Tao News Corporation Limited listed as a supporting organization alongside the Security Bureau, the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, and the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers. Students submitted creative campaigns built around the concept of a “holistic national security outlook” (總體國家安全觀), and under the competition’s official rules, copyright of entries was assigned to police, who could then edit, translate, and redistribute the material without further consent or payment. At an awards ceremony, Security Secretary Chris Tang and acting Police Commissioner Simon Kan Kai-yan (簡啟恩) attended to honor winning entries, which included AI-generated game cards and virtual-reality role-play scenarios. Sing Tao’s English-language paper, The Standard, covered a related police-run video contest, NStory, whose judging panel has included film director Lee Lik-chi and legislator Tang Fei. Hong Kong’s National Security Law was imposed directly by China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee in 2020. Because the law has a direct impact on the media environment and media freedoms in Hong Kong, and because the territory’s national security enforcement operates in coordination with central government bodies, this database treats media and national security cooperation in Hong Kong as a cross-territory engagement.

RTHK Produces Cross-Media Musical for National Security Education Day

Written by Editors on .

On June 26, 2022, Hong Kong’s public broadcaster RTHK premieredBauhinia in Bloom — Cross-Media Musical Performance (紫荊花開—跨媒體音樂匯演), a 70-minute, five-act production commissioned by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s Committee for Safeguarding National Security to mark 2022’s National Security Education Day. Composed, written, and directed by Mei Kwong-chiu (梅廣釗), chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Composers and a member of the China Musicians Association, a mainland state-affiliated body, the performance involved more than 170 performers, including the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, the Hong Kong Dance Company, and several lion dance and martial arts troupes, and used orchestral, choral, and dance elements to narrate what the Committee’s event page described as the “significant historical development of the motherland and Hong Kong over the past century,” promoting the “holistic national security outlook” (總體國家安全觀). That page confirms the program “was produced by RTHK.” National Security Education Day has been co-organized since 2021 by Hong Kong’s national security committee together with the Central People’s Government’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong and the central government’s Office for Safeguarding National Security, both directly named as supporting organizers in official announcements of the event.

Italpress Signs Deal with Xinhua

Written by Editors on .

On December 17, 2025, Italian news agency Italpress signed a cooperation agreement with Xinhua, China’s state news agency, a ministerial-level body operating under China’s State Council and the Chinese Communist Party’s Propaganda apparatus. The two agencies signed the deal at a media and think tank forum in Rome, which Xinhua’s European Regional Office organized with support from the Chinese Embassy in Italy. Neither Italpress nor Xinhua has published the text of the agreement, though Italpress has since created a dedicated “Xinhua” section on its website, republishing Xinhua-produced articles on Chinese politics, technology, and diplomacy, translated into English, as its own coverage. Italpress director Gaspare Borsellino called the deal a step toward “more qualified, thorough, and quality” journalism, language that echoes Chinese Communist Party framing of state media professionalism, and said Italpress would open a bureau in Beijing in January 2026 as part of its international expansion. Tian Fan (田帆), director of Xinhua’s European Regional Office, said the agency would continue presenting China to Italy in a “vivid and multifaceted” way. Chinese Embassy chargé d’affaires Li Xiaoyong (李小勇) said the deal would help “authentic information” “cross borders” and build “mutual trust” between the two countries.

Italpress and CCTV Sign Content-Sharing Agreement

Written by Editors on .

On May 28, 2025, Italian news agency Italpress, based in Palermo, announced a content-sharing agreement with CCTV+ (央視國際視訊通訊社), the international video news agency of China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台), which operates under the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Propaganda Department. Under the agreement, Italpress will distribute its multimedia content in China while incorporating CCTV+ footage into its own coverage for subscribers in Italy and abroad. Italpress founder Gaspare Borsellino called the agreement “an important and exciting international partnership” that would help the agency reach new markets. CCTV+ director Li Xia (李霞) said the partnership reflected “growing mutual trust and cooperation between Chinese and Italian media,” and that both sides would pursue “authoritative, credible, and internationally influential journalistic content,” a characterization consistent with CCP framing of state media as objective and professional — even as the same CCP discourse emphasizes the primacy of the Party leadership over media and public opinion, following hardline comments on media policy made by Xi Jinping in February 2016. 

Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jianwei Publishes Op-Ed in Thai Media

Written by Editors on .

On July 1, 2026, marking both the 105th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s founding and the 51st anniversary of China-Thailand diplomatic relations, Chinese Ambassador to Thailand Zhang Jianwei (張建衛) published a signed op-ed titled “Standing at a New Starting Point, Walking Well on the New Journey” (站在新起點，走好新征程) in Thai media, according to the Chinese Embassy’s own account. The embassy named three placements: Daily News, Matichon (民意報), and Top News. Independent republication also confirms placement in Khaosod English, the English-language arm of the Matichon Group, and Nation Thailand, the English-language arm of The Nation Group. The op-ed credited the CCP with lifting China from poverty to becoming the world’s second-largest economy, framed Chinese foreign policy as building a “community of shared future for mankind,” and cited a more than 6,000-fold increase in bilateral trade since 1975, China’s 13-year run as Thailand’s largest trading partner, and record 2026 tourist numbers as evidence of the relationship’s “vigorous” development ahead of what it called the two countries’ next “golden 50 years.”

People’s Daily and Thailand’s PRD Sign News Exchange MOU

Written by Editors on .

On July 20, 2026, the People’s Daily signed a memorandum of understanding on media cooperation with Thailand’s Public Relations Department (泰國民聯廳), or PRD, one of three separate media MOUs PRD concluded that day alongside Xinhua News Agency and China Media Group, as part of a package of 15 agreements marking the close of Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s official visit to China, during which Taiwan was a key flashpoint. PRD Director-General Sudruetai Lertkasem signed the agreements at the Great Hall of the People, witnessed by Anutin and Chinese Premier Li Qiang. According to an Instagram post by NBT World, PRD’s own state-run English-language international television channel, the agreement with the People’s Daily covers “the exchange and reciprocal distribution of original news content and media personnel,” with the stated goal of increasing Chinese audiences’ access to information about Thailand and “fostering mutual understanding.” The China-Thailand joint communiqué issued the same day separately commits both governments to strengthening “media, publishing, and broadcast film cooperation” and to “jointly combat fake news and disinformation.”

Xinhua Renews Media Cooperation MOU with Thailand PRD

Written by Editors on .

On July 20, 2026, Xinhua News Agency signed a memorandum of understanding with Thailand’s Public Relations Department (PRD), a body under the Prime Minister’s Office responsible for state public relations, aimed at strengthening cooperation in media operations management, digital transformation, and AI applications, according to a report by Xinhua. The signing was one of three parallel media MOUs the PRD concluded that day, alongside the People’s Daily and China Media Group, as part of a package of 15 agreements marking the close of Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s official visit to China, witnessed by Anutin and Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People. The agreement builds on a cooperation relationship dating to a first MOU signed in November 2019 and renewed in 2025. In an April 2026 meeting with Xinhua President Fu Hua, PRD Director-General Sudruetai Lertkasem proposed developing PRD into a “national information hub” modeled on Xinhua’s structure and invited Xinhua personnel to serve as advisors to the department.