Archives: Dispatches

All Lingua Sinica Dispatches

Global South Institute

Written by Editors on March 27, 2026.

Founded on September 29, 2024, the Tianjin University Global South Institute (天津大學全球南方研究院) is China’s first university-based research center dedicated to Global South studies. Housed within the School of Foreign Languages and led by Executive Director Professor Wang Zhan (王戰), the institute operates as a state-oriented think tank explicitly tasked with serving Chinese national strategy and advancing Beijing’s vision of a “community with a shared future for mankind.” It maintains four research centers focused on Francophone countries, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, East Asia, and the United States and India, and runs a multilingual public opinion monitoring and AI translation platform tracking political and social developments across Global South nations.

Canal N

Written by Editors on March 27, 2026.

Canal N is a Peruvian pay-television news channel founded on July 4, 1999, and headquartered in Lima, as part of the El Comercio media group. It was Peru’s first 24-hour cable news channel, with programming focused on current affairs and political coverage. The channel was created under journalist Gilberto Hume and was instrumental in the fall of President Alberto Fujimori, who ruled from 1990 to 2000 and was later convicted of human rights abuses and corruption. In 2021, the channel drew criticism after journalists were forced out for refusing to produce coverage favorable to Keiko Fujimori’s presidential campaign.

Mission of the People’s Republic of China to ASEAN

Written by Editors on March 27, 2026.

The Mission of the People’s Republic of China to ASEAN is Beijing’s dedicated diplomatic representation to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (東南亞國家聯盟), headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia. Dialogue relations began in 1991, when Foreign Minister Qian Qichen (錢其琛) attended the 24th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. In 2003, China acceded to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, establishing a strategic partnership. It was the first dialogue partner to do so. China established its permanent mission at ASEAN in 2008. In 2021, Xi Jinping announced the upgrade to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (全面戰略夥伴關係), the highest tier in China’s diplomatic relationship framework.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations

Written by Editors on March 27, 2026.

Founded on August 8, 1967 in Bangkok with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration by the foreign ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, ASEAN is an eleven-member intergovernmental organization headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia. Its founding was driven by Cold War-era concerns about communist expansion in Southeast Asia, though the declaration itself focused on accelerating regional economic, social, and cultural development. Membership expanded gradually — Brunei in 1984, Vietnam in 1995, Laos and Myanmar in 1997, and Cambodia in 1999. Timor-Leste joined as the eleventh member in October 2025. The ASEAN Charter, adopted in 2007 and entering into force in 2008, gave the bloc formal legal status. The organization operates across three community pillars — political-security, economic, and socio-cultural — and remains the central multilateral forum for Southeast Asian regional cooperation.

Tianjin University

Written by Editors on March 27, 2026.

Founded in 1895 as Peiyang University (北洋大學) by statesman Sheng Xuanhuai under a Qing imperial charter, Tianjin University is the oldest institution of higher education in modern Chinese history. Renamed Tianjin University in 1951 following the nationwide restructuring of colleges under the People’s Republic, it was designated one of China’s first sixteen national key universities in 1959 and is now a Ministry of Education-administered institution under the country’s Double First-Class construction program for world-class universities. Today it collaborates with more than 260 institutions across 50 countries and encompasses schools spanning engineering, science, law, humanities, and medicine, with particular strength in chemical engineering, materials science, and precision instrumentation.

Thai Public Broadcasting Service

Written by Editors on March 27, 2026.

Thai Public Broadcasting Service (泰國公共電視台), or Thai PBS, is a public broadcasting service in Thailand established by the Thai Public Broadcasting Service Act on January 15, 2008. Thai PBS operates as a state agency with legal personality but is not classified as a government agency or state enterprise. The broadcaster operates television and radio services, with its main channel broadcasting in high definition on digital Channel 3. Thai PBS evolved from the privately run iTV station, which later became TITV before transforming into the current public broadcaster. The service broadcasts primarily in Thai, with some English-language programming, and reaches audiences throughout Thailand and neighboring border regions in Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Thai PBS is managed by director-general Wilasinee Pipitkul.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba

Written by Editors on March 27, 2026.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba (古巴外交部), or MINREX, was established on December 23, 1959, following the Cuban Revolution, replacing the former Ministry of State. Operating under the Council of State authority, MINREX formulates and executes Cuba’s foreign policy based on “socialist principles” and “revolutionary diplomacy,” managing diplomatic relations with other nations and representing Cuba in international organizations including the United Nations and Non-Aligned Movement. The ministry oversees multiple divisions covering regional affairs, multilateral relations, and consular services, while supervising attached units including the Raúl Roa García Higher Institute of International Relations and research centers that conduct international political analysis aligned with Cuban foreign policy objectives.

The Wall Street Journal

Written by Editors on March 27, 2026.

Founded in 1889, The Wall Street Journal is an American newspaper based in the financial district of Wall Street in New York City. Now published under Dow Jones & Company, a division of the Murdoch-owned News Corp, the paper has more than 600,000 print subscribers, and one of the country’s largest digital subscription bases, at more than three million. The precursor to the current newspaper was the Kiernan News Agency created in 1869 by John J. Kiernan, who started out as a Western Union messenger boy. Kiernan’s hiring of young reporters Charles H. Dow and Edward D. Jones soon resulted in the launch of a news service, Dow Jones & Company.

Saudi Broadcasting Authority

Written by Editors on March 27, 2026.

The Saudi Broadcasting Authority (SBA), formerly the Saudi Broadcasting Corporation, is Saudi Arabia’s state-owned media entity operating under the Ministry of Media. While Crown Prince Faisal issued a ministerial statement in 1962 to establish television broadcasting, actual operations began in 1965 from Riyadh and Jeddah stations. The entity was restructured in 2012 when the Council of Ministers approved the conversion of radio and television activities into a public authority. The authority changed its English name from Saudi Broadcasting Corporation to Saudi Broadcasting Authority in 2018. SBA manages nearly all broadcasting outlets in the Kingdom, operating television channels including Al Saudiya (the flagship Arabic channel), Al Ekhbariya (news), KSA SPORT, SBC (entertainment), and religious channels Quran TV and Sunnah TV. Radio services include the Saudi General Program, Holy Quran Radio, and international broadcasting.