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The Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries

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The Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (中国人民对外友好协会), or CPAFFC, is a Beijing-based organization established in May 1954 that manages sister city relationships and international cultural exchanges — and serves as a key conduit for establishing links with individuals and organizations overseas favorable to the official agendas of the CCP leadership. Directly under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA, the organization, as its name suggests, is officially geared toward promoting “friendship” (友谊) between Chinese and foreign peoples, but the CCP’s conception of friendship centers on notions going back to Soviet Russia that emphasize harmony, lack of criticism and even accommodation of China’s positions and goals.

Brazilian Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation

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Brazil’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação) is the federal cabinet agency responsible for coordinating the country’s science, technology and innovation policies since its establishment in March 1985. The ministry oversees multiple secretariats including digital transformation, technological development, and social development programs. Headquartered in Brasília’s government district, the MCTI serves as Brazil’s primary institutional partner for international technology cooperation agreements, including recent artificial intelligence partnerships with countries like China aimed at strengthening bilateral innovation frameworks.

Ministry of Industry and Information Technology

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The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (工業和信息化部) is a cabinet-level executive department of China’s State Council, established in 2008 to supersede the Ministry of Information Industry. MIIT oversees regulation and development of telecommunications, internet, broadcasting, electronics, software industry, and industrial policy. The ministry plays a central role in China’s technological governance, including an active role in implementing technical aspects of internet censorship including the approval since 2023 of all mobile apps distributed in the country. The ministry also manages radio spectrum allocation. MIIT spearheaded the “Made in China 2025” industrial plan and co-organizes major government initiatives like the World Artificial Intelligence Conference, functioning as a key instrument for advancing state priorities in technology and industrial development while maintaining strict control over China’s digital infrastructure.

Chinese Academy of Engineering

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The Chinese Academy of Engineering (中國工程院) is China’s national academy for engineering, established in 1994 as an institution under the State Council. With 920 Chinese members and 93 foreign members across nine divisions, CAE claims to be “the highest honorary and advisory academic institution in the nation’s fields of engineering sciences and technology.” The academy describes its mission as providing consultation for national decision-making and building a “top think-tank” that is “reliable for the nation.” Like its counterpart, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, CAE functions primarily as a state-directed advisory body advancing government priorities in engineering and technology development, while co-organizing major government initiatives alongside multiple Chinese ministries.

Myanmar Ministry of Information

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Myanmar’s Ministry of Information was established in 1947 to control state media and information dissemination. Headquartered in Nay Pyi Taw, the ministry oversees state media operations including Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV), the Information and Public Relations Department, and the Printing and Publishing Department. The organization controls television broadcasting, film production standards, and content censorship. Since the coup d’état in Myanmar in 2021, the ministry has played a clear role in pushing pro-state propaganda and restraining the activities of news media.

Gannett Co Inc

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Gannett Co., Inc. serves as America’s largest newspaper publisher by total daily circulation, headquartered in New York City. Founded by Frank Gannett in Rochester, New York in 1923, the company grew through aggressive acquisitions of small independent newspapers. Gannett owns flagship USA Today, the middle-market newspaper appealing to a broader audience, alongside major regional dailies including The Arizona Republic, Detroit Free Press, and The Indianapolis Star. In 2019, New Media Investment Group acquired Gannett in a merger creating the current entity under CEO Mike Reed. The company has faced significant financial pressures, implementing widespread layoffs and cost-cutting measures while struggling with declining print circulation and advertising revenues in the digital era.

Dow Jones & Company

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A division of the Murdoch-owned News Corp, Dow Jones & Company is a publishing firm founded in November 1882 by three young reporters for the Kiernan News Agency created in 1869 by John J. Kiernan — Charles H. Dow and Edward D. Jones. The company is often known for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), a stock market index of 30 companies listed on US exchanges. In addition to the Wall Street Journal, the company publishes Barron’s, MarketWatch, Mansion Global, Financial News and Private Equity News.

News Corp

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News Corporation, or News Corp, is an American publishing and mass media company with its headquarters in Manhattan. Starting as a small newspaper in Australia in the 1920s under Sir Keith Murdoch, the father of the previous chairman Rupert Murdoch, News Corp now encompasses many media and information brands, including Dow Jones & Company, The Wall Street Journal, The Sun, News UK, and News Corp Australia. The company also runs the book publisher HarperCollins. The current chairman of News Corp is Lachlan Murdoch, son of the founder Rupert Murdoch. The company has had a long and checkered history of dealings with China. For many years, from the 1990s onward, Murdoch worked concertedly to gain access to China’s budding media market — but was never successful. In February 2022, news emerged that China was suspected of hacking the accounts of several journalists at News Corp. In 2025, some commentators in Australia accused News Corp publications of pushing the “China threat” in its coverage.

Des Moines Register

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Originally founded in 1849 as The Iowa Star, the Des Moines Register serves as Iowa’s flagship newspaper, founded under its current title through mergers in the early 1900s under the leadership of Gardner Cowles Sr., a banker in Des Moines, Iowa’s state capital and largest city. Gannett acquired the publication in 1985 amid declining revenues. The daily maintains outsized political influence through its Iowa Poll and first-in-the-nation caucus coverage of the US presidential elections — earning it national attention in the political cycle. The newspaper has won multiple Pulitzer Prizes for national reporting, though circulation has declined significantly from its mid-20th century peak of nearly 250,000 daily readers.