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All Lingua Sinica Dispatches

Los Angeles Times Runs China Daily Propaganda Insert

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An eight-page China Watch supplement appeared in the financially-struggling Los Angeles Times in June 2020, distributed by the Chinese government-backed China Daily. The standalone insert, branded “All You Need to Know,” featured content promoting Chinese perspectives during the COVID-19 pandemic period. The supplement was clearly labeled as not involving the newspaper’s editorial staff, but presented as news reading material. The timing coincided with the LA Times’ well-documented financial difficulties, suggesting economic motivations for accepting the paid insert. China expert Clayton Dube documented the supplement’s appearance, highlighting the case as another example of Chinese state media’s efforts to reach American audiences through established US newspaper distribution networks.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

China Daily Runs Supplement in India’s Hindustan Times

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A China Watch supplement appeared in India’s Hindustan Times on October 30, 2020, as part of China Daily’s global propaganda campaign targeting foreign audiences. The insert featured environmental stories including “Yellow River cleanup brings bright future” and coverage promoting Chinese development initiatives. China’s “China Watch” pages, which have appeared in newspapers across the world, blur the lines between Chinese propaganda and legitimate journalism, with the Chinese Communist Party paying substantial sums—including one million dollars annually to the UK’s Daily Telegraph—for such supplements. These payments represent a key component of China’s external propaganda (外宣) strategy to shape international perceptions.

China Internet Body Holds Global Training

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The World Internet Conference Digital Academy (世界互联网大会数字研修院) held a training program on “Digital Economy Innovation and Development” during the 2025 World Internet Conference Digital Silk Road Development Forum on July 24, 2025. According to a state media readout, the program attracted government officials and business representatives from 26 countries and regions, focusing on data governance and cross-border data flows. Liang Hao (梁昊), the executive deputy secretary-general of the WIC and executive vice-dean of the WICDA, said the academy aims to “inject new vitality into digital development” and build an “open, trustworthy, and shared global digital economy ecosystem.” The training was jointly organized by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), China’s primary internet control body, and featured instructors from Beijing Normal University’s Belt and Road School (北京师范大学”一带一路”学院) and the Asia Academy of Digital Economics, though specific participating countries were not disclosed. The World Internet Conference (WIC) was founded in 2014 as an annual forum hosted by China in Wuzhen, promoting Beijing’s vision of internet governance and digital cooperation. The event, through which China has often tried to force joint declarations with participants to support its views on cyberspace governance, has had limited participation, despite its global branding.

Kenya’s Star Signs Insert Deal with China Daily

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Kenya’s Star newspaper signed a content-sharing agreement with China Daily Africa on July 16, 2025, at the Star’s Westlands headquarters in Nairobi. Radio Africa Group CEO Martin Khafafa and China Daily Africa Director Wang Xiaodong (王晓东) officiated the deal, which will see “China Watch” inserts published weekly in the Star, leveraging its “100,000-copy circulation.” Khafafa welcomed the partnership as showcasing China’s “contributions to Kenya’s economic growth,” while China Daily’s Kennedy Mureithi said the goal was to “break down Western bias” and expand influence across 15 African countries through local partnerships countering “misperceptions” about China’s continental role. This language closely mirrors Chinese state talking points, including Xi Jinping’s notion of “telling China’s story well.” Mureithi was quoted by China Daily as saying: “We believe that by telling our story in our own voice, more Africans will come to appreciate the values, innovations, and opportunities that China offers.” Xi’s notion of “China’s story,” however, does not suggest individual stories but refers to the “discourse power” (話語權) and voice of the Chinese Party-state, which is perpetuated also through restraints on discourse.

The Star

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The Star is a Kenyan daily tabloid newspaper published in Nairobi by Radio Africa Group since July 2007, originally launched as the Nairobi Star before rebranding in 2009. The publication grew from circulation of 5,000-8,000 copies in 2007 to 15,000-20,000 by 2010, when it first turned profitable in September 2009. Now claiming “100,000-copy circulation,” The Star covers breaking news, politics, entertainment, lifestyle and sports from Kenya and internationally. The newspaper positions itself as Kenya’s “third largest newspaper” and “most independent,” targeting younger readers with the slogan “Smart People Read the Star” while maintaining stronger focus on regional news, sports, and opinion columns than competitors. The newspaper operates from Lion Place headquarters in Westlands, Nairobi, and maintains the website thestar.co.ke.

Propaganda Office of the Changsha Committee of the Chinese Communist Party

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The Propaganda Office of the Chinese Communist Party’s Changsha Municipal Committee (中共長沙市委宣傳部) serves as the chief office responsible for communicating the agendas of the local party leadership and overseeing state-run media in Changsha, including Changsha Media Group and its various broadcasting operations. The office functions as the central enforcer of the party’s media discipline, or “guidance of public opinion” (輿論導向), ensuring all local outlets maintain proper political orientation in line with central and municipal level directives.

Changsha Media Group

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Changsha Media Group (長沙市廣播電視台集團) is a state-run broadcaster directly under the leadership of the Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Changsha, the capital of China’s southern Hunan province. The group operates four radio frequencies and five television channels, including news, politics and law, mobile subway TV, shopping, and cultural tourism channels. Its business spans film and television investment, cable network operations, and theater management. The conglomerate oversees 13 subsidiary units, including the publicly-listed Zhongguang Tianze (中廣天擇), which became China’s first state-controlled program production company to list on the main board in 2017. With nearly 1,500 employees and total assets of 2.5 billion yuan, the group promotes itself as a “market-oriented and corporate transformation” of “mainstream media” — in this context referring specifically to CCP-run media — to enhance competitiveness while maintaining state control. Its core operations include broadcasting, television, new media, and video content production, positioning it as a key instrument for local CCP messaging and cultural influence.

The Oriental Post

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The Oriental Post (非洲華僑週報), literally “Africa Overseas Chinese Weekly,” and sometimes called on its website “Chinese in Africa,” was launched in July 2013 as the African weekly edition of the overseas edition of the CCP’s official People’s Daily newspaper. The link between the publications is noted clearly on the masthead of The Oriental Post, where the People’s Daily masthead is also prominent. The publication is operated by the Africa Chinese Media Group (非洲華文傳媒集團), part of the Global Max Media Group (Pty) Ltd (環球廣域傳媒集團), a Chinese comprehensive media conglomerate headquartered in Botswana, southern Africa. Like the People’s Daily and many other official CCP media, The Oriental Post offers a full digital version of the paper on its website. The newspaper lists directly under its masthead the phone numbers of eight Chinese embassies in Africa, including Botswana, Zambia, Angola and Tanzania. The paper clearly mirrors official state media inside China, reporting most prominently on CCP meetings and official business. Its “friendship links” include the United Front Work Department of the CCP, the Chinese Embassy in Botswana and other official state entities.

Changsha Propaganda Office Runs Joint Event with African Media

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On July 15, 2025, the China-Africa International Communication Alliance (Changsha), a grouping directed by the Propaganda Office of the Changsha Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (長沙市委宣傳部) and hosted by Changsha Media Group (長沙市廣播電視集團), launched its “Harmonious Voices Action” (融聲行動), what it characterized as a “network reaching Africa.” According to a readout on the program by local state media in Changsha, Changsha Broadcasting established “deep cooperation” with six African media organizations and also set up the “Changsha Media Group Africa International Media Cooperation Base” (長沙廣電非洲國際媒體合作基地). They include Sierra Leone’s Tourism Channel (旅遊頻道), Ghana’s Norbea Media Group/ABC TV, Ethiopia’s Fana Media (芳納廣播公司), Nigeria’s News Investigators, the Botswana-based Oriental Post (非洲華僑週報), and the Senegal International Media Station. More than 20 institutions, including the Community of Shared Destiny Research Center of the Communication University of China (中國傳媒大學人類命運共同體研究院), separately joined the broader alliance, which officials said would help “China-Africa friendship stories shine more brightly through cultural exchange” and enable African media to serve as “companions, discoverers and narrators of China’s story” (同行者、發現者與講述者).