
Scripting the Source
In a clear sign of tightening media control, state broadcasters in China now manage the risk of live interviews even before the camera begins to roll.

On February 6, 2024, Chinese Ambassador to Portugal Zhao Bentang (趙本堂) met with representatives from Diário de Notícias, a Portuguese newspaper founded in 1864. The meeting, reported only by the Chinese Embassy, featured Zhao promoting China’s foreign policy framework and proposing expanded media cooperation. The newspaper’s representatives pledged to present “a real, multi-dimensional, and comprehensive China” to Portuguese readers — language that closely echoes Chinese state media narratives about countering alleged Western media bias.
