Skip to main content

Archives: Dispatches

All Lingua Sinica Dispatches

Xiaohongshu

Written by Editors on .

Xiaohongshu (小紅書), also known as RedNote, is a Chinese social networking and e-commerce platform founded in 2013. Launched initially as an online shopping platform, it has evolved into something similar to Instagram, focusing on lifestyle content including fashion, beauty, and travel. The name is a tongue-in-cheek reference to Chinese leader Mao Zedong’s famous “Little Red Book,” or the Quotations of Chairman Mao (毛主席语录), which many Chinese carried during the Cultural Revolution period — suggesting the contemporary platform is an essential guide, in this case to shopping, that users must always consult. The app reported 300 million monthly active users worldwide by August 2025, nearly 80 percent of whom are women. In 2022, leaked documents published by China Digital Times revealed that Xiaohongshu’s content moderation teams censor posts about topics sensitive to the Chinese Communist Party, including derogatory nicknames for General Secretary Xi Jinping, labor strikes, and student suicides. In January 2025, Xiaohongshu experienced a significant influx of American users following TikTok’s week-long ban in the US.

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

Written by Editors on .

The Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (한국외국어대학교) is a private research university in Seoul, founded in April 1954 by Kim Heung-bae (金興培). The university currently teaches 45 foreign languages and includes programs in humanities, law, political science, social sciences, business, medical science, natural sciences, and engineering. Within its College of Social Sciences, the university offers Journalism and Mass Communication majors that include programs in Journalism and Media Studies, Advertising and Public Relations, and Television and Film. While no formal framework for cooperation with China was found, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies maintains engagement with Chinese institutions through participation in bilateral forums. In October 2025, Professor Park Han-jin from the College of Chinese Studies participated in the 2025 China-South Korea Media Cooperation Forum held in Seoul under the theme “China-South Korea Cooperation for an Intelligent Future.”

Lead Digital

Written by Editors on .

Lead Digital is the trade name for Shanghai Lingshu Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. (上海羚數智能科技有限公司), a Chinese industrial software company founded in April 2021, developing cloud-based manufacturing execution systems and production management platforms for manufacturers. The company helps clients in the automotive parts, electronics assembly, and equipment manufacturing sectors digitize production workflows and integrate factory-floor data systems.

Maekyung Media Group

Written by Editors on .

Maekyung Media Group (매경미디어그룹) is a South Korean media conglomerate founded on March 24, 1966. The same year, it launched its flagship publication, Maeil Business Newspaper. Today, the group’s publications include Maekyung Economy, a weekly business magazine that debuted in 1979, Maeil Business TV for live financial market coverage, and Maekyung.com as its primary business news portal. Pulse, an English-language news website by the group, targets international audiences. In 2010, the group transformed its 24-hour news channel into a general programming cable TV channel, adding entertainment and drama content to the mix. Most recently, the group launched Maekyung AX, an AI-based knowledge platform that combines the group’s content with artificial intelligence technology. The Maekyung Media Group has previously engaged with Chinese media and technology companies, including hosting the China Greater Bay Forum in Shenzhen in 2019.

Zhiyuan Innovation Technology

Written by Editors on .

Zhiyuan Innovation (Shanghai) Technology Co., Ltd. (智元創新上海 科技有限公司), is a robotics manufacturing company based in China. Founded in February 2023, the company is located in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai. The company focuses on creating humanoid robots, service robots, commercial cleaning robots, and robotic dexterous hands, primarily serving the electronic equipment manufacturing industries. The company also develops AI-powered hardware and software for computers, communications, and electronic devices. Since March 2023, Zhiyuan Innovation’s investors include tech giant Tencent, Chinese automaker BYD, and venture capital firms Sequoia Capital China and Matrix Partners China.

Dankook University

Written by Editors on .

Dankook University (단국대학교), or DKU, is a private research university in South Korea founded in November 1947, with campuses in Yongin (about 40 kilometers south of Seoul) and Cheonan (about 90 kilometers south of Seoul). The university hosts more than 30,000 students and employs approximately 2,700 faculty members across 20 undergraduate colleges and 10 professional graduate schools. The university is recognized by the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange, an institution under China’s Ministry of Education, which ensures degree recognition for Chinese graduates. While no official framework for cooperation with China was found, Dankook University maintains engagement with Chinese institutions through participation in bilateral forums. In October 2025, Professor Kim Jin-ho from the College of Social Sciences participated in the 2025 China-South Korea Media Cooperation Forum held in Seoul under the theme “China-South Korea Cooperation for an Intelligent Future.”

Chinese Embassy in South Korea

Written by Editors on .

The Chinese Embassy in South Korea is the diplomatic mission of the People’s Republic of China in Seoul. Established in August 1992, it represented a notable development in post-Cold War diplomacy as South Korea normalized relations with China while maintaining its alliance with the United States. The embassy has frequently engaged in typical sharp-tongued diplomatic practices on key territorial and security interests, including issuing statements against South Korean officials’ visits to Taiwan and pressuring South Korean universities and cultural institutions on matters related to Tibet,

NewsVoice Launches Partnership with China Daily

Written by Editors on .

On April 10, 2025, the Swedish website NewsVoice announced the signing of a news-sharing agreement with China Daily (中國日報) that allowed NewsVoice to translate and publish articles from the Chinese government-run outlet on its website. According to a letter on the deal published by China Daily and bearing the byline of NewsVoice founder and editor-in-chief Torbjörn Sassersson, the partnership provides “insight into China’s thinking, philosophy, and political perspective.” Sassersson added that the partnership would enable his website to “become a player in media diplomacy using journalism to build bridges between countries and peoples”—language that closely mirrors Chinese state media rhetoric surrounding media cooperation agreements. Torbjörn Sassersson is a Swedish freelance journalist and communications consultant who has worked in environmental consulting, bioenergy, and corporate communications since the 1990s. He founded NewsVoice.se in 2011, a bilingual news and — says Sassersson — debate platform. As Sassersson explains in a bio on the NewsVoice website, he shifted focus in 2023 to covering the multipolar world, BRICS, and China’s Belt and Road Initiative after receiving an invitation from the Chinese embassy to visit Shanghai. In June 2025, Sassersson interviewed Cui Anmin, China’s ambassador to Sweden, on Sweden-China relations for NewsVoice.

China and Uganda Launch Audiovisual Initiative

Written by Editors on .

The Beijing Municipal Radio and Television Bureau (北京市廣播電視局), under the local city leadership of the CCP, and Uganda’s Vision Group jointly hosted the “Love Beijing Night” cultural exchange event in Kampala on June 27, 2025. Also launched at the event was a new program for the distribution of Chinese television dramas called “2025 ‘LOVE Beijing’ Audiovisual Arts International Communication Initiative Africa” (2025年’LOVE北京’視聽文藝國際傳播行動·非洲). Under the terms of the project, Vision Group will broadcast a series of Chinese television dramas, including Six Sisters (六姊妹), a family drama, alongside TV shows such as Minning Town (山海情), a series about a community in China’s arid northwest that promotes the Party’s anti-poverty campaign. Chinese state media reported that the programming aimed to “deepen China-Africa audiovisual cooperation” (深化中非視聽合作). The initiative also established dedicated audiovisual content zones on the African mobile app Scooper News, featuring an English-language “Beijing Broadcasting Service Package” that runs documentaries and short videos. Vision Group CEO said that  the programming would “open a window for Ugandan audiences to see China,” while Chinese officials emphasized the shows demonstrate Chinese “family and national sentiments” to African viewers.