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Archives: Dispatches

All Lingua Sinica Dispatches

Scooper News

Scooper News is a news and entertainment mobile app launched in 2019 by Chinese smartphone manufacturer Transsion Holdings (深圳傳音控股股份有限公司). The platform aggregates trending news, videos, and entertainment content tailored for users in Africa, featuring personalized news feeds from all around the world. Scooper integrates Chinese state media content, with China Daily (中國日報) having a cooperation agreement to deliver Chinese domestic news to Africa through the platform. The official Xinhua News Agency reported in September 2025 that its Scooper account had “achieved 31 million hits in six months” in 2023. According to company statements, Scooper News reached more than 3.8 million downloads at launch. It now reports more than 50 million monthly active users across Africa.

Uganda Communications Commission

The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) is a regulatory body for telecommunications, broadcasting, and communications infrastructure established under the Uganda Communications Act No. 1 of 1997 and the Electronic Media Act of 1996. The commission oversees telecommunications, data communications, broadcasting, postal services, radio communications, and infrastructure services across Uganda, while also licensing cinemas and video libraries. As a government-owned statutory body, the UCC has ordered internet shutdowns and social media blocks during elections and requires licensing for online publishers. The body has been criticized for using its ostensibly regulatory role to conduct censorship through penalizations over broadcast standards and onerous registration requirements for online outlets.

The People’s Government of Beijing Municipality

The People’s Government of Beijing Municipality (北京市人民政府) is the administrative arm of China’s capital city, subordinate to the Communist Party — with the mayor answering to the municipal party secretary. It comprises a mayor, vice mayors, a General Office, and more than 20 bureaus handling public security, judicial affairs, and civil, economic, social, and cultural matters. The government was founded on January 1, 1949, restructured as the Beijing Municipal Revolutionary Committee (北京市革命委員會) during the Cultural Revolution, and restored to its current form in 1979.

Uganda Broadcasting Corporation

A wholly state-owned entity under the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance, the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) is the country’s national state broadcaster, tracing its origins to the Uganda Broadcasting Service first established in 1954 under British colonial rule. The modern corporation was established under the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation Act of 2005, under which the operations of Uganda Television and Radio Uganda were merged. UBC operates multiple television channels, alongside radio stations, newspapers, and regional services covering various Ugandan languages. UBC has closely engaged with Chinese state media entities, including the government-run China Daily, on media cooperation.

Beijing Municipal Radio and Television Bureau

The Beijing Municipal Radio and Television Bureau, or BMRTB (北京市廣播電視局), is the bureau-level regulatory agency directly under the Beijing Municipal People’s Government, originally established in September 1979. In November 2018, the bureau was rebuilt based on the television management responsibilities of the former Beijing Municipal Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television Administration, reflecting China’s broader media regulatory reforms approved through the State Council’s 2018 institutional reorganization plan. The bureau’s primary responsibilities include overseeing local TV and radio stations, supervising television and online video content, managing foreign satellite TV access, and coordinating Beijing’s media industry development programs. The BMRTB operates within China’s media control framework, adhering to the unified leadership of the CCP over radio and television, as with all media.

Montsame and Xinhua Sign Cooperation Agreement

On April 10, 2018, during a visit to China by Mongolian Prime Minister Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh, the Montsame News Agency (蒙古國通訊社) and the Xinhua News Agency (新華通訊社) renewed cooperation in a deal signed by Montsame’s deputy director and Xinhua’s vice president in Beijing. The original partnership between the two began in 1958, when the agencies signed their first news exchange agreement in China’s capital. Since then, both agencies have maintained correspondents in Ulaanbaatar and Beijing and have continued developing their cooperation, state media reported without details. The agencies plan to collaborate in several areas: exchanging news in Chinese, Russian, and English; organizing journalist tours and training sessions; co-hosting photo exhibitions; and providing internships for young reporters.

Chinese Ambassador Interviewed by Swedish Media

On June 2, 2025, the Chinese Ambassador to Sweden Cui Aimin (崔爱民) was interviewed by the Swedish online media outlet NewsVoice to commemorate the 75th anniversary of China-Sweden diplomatic relations. In the interview, the ambassador promoted bilateral cooperation in green technology and trade, defended China’s response to US tariffs, and encouraged Sweden to join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and BRICS cooperation mechanisms. He also said that “embracing China is embracing opportunities” and characterized both China and the EU as “victims” of US tariffs. Echoing China’s official position that his country practices “whole-process democracy” (全过程民主), Cui told the outlet that “each country’s democracy has its own features.”

NewsVoice

NewsVoice is a Swedish news website based in Stockholm, founded in 2011. The outlet describes itself as an independent news monitoring channel covering politics, economy, healthcare, science, technology, and culture. In April 2025, NewsVoice announced a partnership with China Daily (中國日報), an English-language newspaper published by the Information Office of China’s State Council, which is effectively the same institution as the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Propaganda Department. The agreement enabled content sharing and provided NewsVoice opportunities to publish in China Daily‘s online edition while reciprocating with the translation of China Daily articles into Swedish. In March 2025, NewsVoice also announced a partnership with TV BRICS (金磚國家電視), a Russia-based media network established in 2017 following the BRICS summit in Xiamen. NewsVoice has also taken part in meetings with representatives from the CCP-backed Chinese People’s Association for Peace and Disarmament (中國人民爭取和平與裁軍協會), arranged in Sweden by the Schiller Institute, a German-based political and economic think tank that has dialogued closely with China and voiced support for the regime and the Belt and Road Initiative. 

Guangxi Autonomous Region Radio and Television Bureau

The Guangxi Autonomous Region Radio and Television Bureau is the provincial-level government agency responsible for managing broadcast media and internet audiovisual content in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region under the oversight of the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA). The NRTA was established in March 2018 as a ministry-level executive agency controlled by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party. The bureau operates under dual leadership from both the provincial CCP committee and the national NRTA, implementing policies for broadcast media regulation, content monitoring, licensing administration, and technology integration. Its functions include enforcing national broadcast propaganda guidelines, developing local management policies, monitoring media content for compliance with state standards, issuing administrative licenses to broadcasters, promoting digital technology integration, and coordinating international media exchanges within the framework of China’s broader media governance structure.