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Archives: Dispatches

All Lingua Sinica Dispatches

Lietuvos Rytas

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Lietuvos Rytas is Lithuania’s largest daily newspaper by circulation and readership, established January 1, 1990, replacing the Soviet-era publication Komjaunimo Tiesa (Youth Truth). The name translates to “Morning of Lithuania.” Headquartered in Vilnius, the newspaper claims to serve as Lithuania’s leading source of national and international news, with a circulation of 17,000 on weekdays and 55,000 on Saturdays according to 2023 figures. The publication maintains correspondent bureaus in Berlin, Paris, Warsaw, Rome, and Moscow, and operates with approximately 80 staff members. Lietuvos Rytas publishes magazines including Stilius and Stilius Plius, and sponsors Lithuania’s annual Woman of the Year awards. The newspaper has operated its own printing facilities since 1994 and launched its online presence at lrytas.lt in 1997, maintaining both print and digital operations throughout Lithuania’s media landscape.

China International Television Corporation

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China International Television Corporation (中國國際電視總公司), or CITVC, founded in 1984, is a state-owned media company funded by China Central Television (CCTV) that handles international sales and distribution of Chinese television content. Following asset reorganization in 1997, the corporation expanded into a diversified media conglomerate with operations spanning program production, distribution, advertising, audience research, and technical services. The company, now under the umbrella of the Central Propaganda Department-administered China Media Group (CMG), markets CCTV’s content internationally and distributes 33 foreign satellite channels from the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and other countries across China. 

IDN Times

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IDN Times is a Jakarta-based digital media platform founded on June 8, 2014. The platform targets millennial and Gen Z audiences in Indonesia and claims to reach over 80 million users. IDN Times operates multiple business units, including other news portals such as Popbela.com, Popmama.com, and FORTUNE Indonesia, as well as live streaming and other entertainment services. The company was founded by entrepreneurs Winston Utomo and William Utomo. 

Chinese Embassy Runs Insert in Peruvian Newspaper

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On November 2, 2021, the Chinese Embassy in Peru published a 16-page insert that was distributed nationwide alongside Peru’s official state newspaper El Peruano. The insert marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of China-Peru diplomatic relations on November 2, 1971. Then-Ambassador Liang Yu (梁宇) contributed a signed article on the history and future of bilateral ties. The insert also included pieces by Peruvian officials, academics, and business figures, and promoted Chinese-backed projects including the Chancay deep-water port, a Belt and Road Initiative mega-project developed by state-owned COSCO Shipping Ports (中遠海運港口). Another project promoted was the Marcona iron mine run by the state-owned Shougang Group (首鋼集團). Based in Beijing, Shougang acquired the mine in 1992, when it was regarded as China’s first major investment in Latin America. The insert reflects a pattern common to Chinese public communications, in which embassy-organized media placements blend diplomatic messaging with promotion of China’s foreign policy objectives and strategic narratives. This is a classic instance of what has been termed the “borrowed boat” method of external propaganda — using established foreign outlets as vehicles to push the official narratives of the Chinese Party-state. 

2024 China-Latin America Civilization Dialogue Held in Lima

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On November 6, 2024, the 2024 China–Latin America Civilizational Dialogue was held in Lima, Peru, and was organized by China International Communications Group (CICG, 中国国际传播集团), a state-controlled media organization. Xinhua reported that the forum drew more than 150 officials, scholars, media representatives, and business figures from China as well as more than 10 Latin American countries. The theme of the event was “Civilizational Heritage and Modern Development,” framing that drew on the Chinese Communist Party’s most recent re-formulation of its legitimacy at home and abroad around the notion that China has created a “new form of human civilization” that offers a model for the world. CICG editor-in-chief Gao Anming (高安明) used his keynote speech to push China’s South-South cooperation messaging, casting China and Latin American nations as fellow “members of the Global South” who “share similar development goals and philosophies.” The forum launched an “Academic Partnership Network for Global Civilization Dialogue,” proposed by the CICG-affiliated Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies (當代中國與世界研究院) alongside 53 institutions including the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO), as well as English and Spanish editions of Six Perspectives of Chinese Modernization (中國式現代化六觀), published by the government-run Chongqing Publishing Group (重慶出版集團). The forum was guided by China’s State Council Information Office (國務院新聞辦公室), Peru’s Ministry of Culture, and the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament (Parlatino), and co-organized by CICG and FLACSO. The event falls under Xi Jinping’s Global Civilization Initiative, which promotes a concept of “civilizational diversity” that implicitly challenges universal values by asserting that different political systems can define their own standards, with state rights taking precedence over individual rights. 

Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies

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The Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies (当代中国與世界研究院), or ACCWS, is a state think tank under the China International Publishing Group (CIPG), also known as the China International Communication Group (CICG). an agency directly under the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Propaganda Department. Formally established in 2017 as the successor to CIPG’s Centre for International Communication Studies, founded in 2004, ACCWS fields an internal research team of over 100 specialists alongside a network of domestic and international fellows. The institute focuses on the international dissemination of “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era” (習近平新時代中國特色社會主義思想), foreign-discourse innovation, international public opinion, and regional communication studies. It publishes three national-level journals — including Contemporary China and the World (當代中國與世界), Chinese Translators Journal (中國翻譯), and International Communications (對外傳播) — operates a big-data platform for international communication analytics, and hosts flagship initiatives including the Global Young Leaders Dialogue and annual global surveys on China’s national image.

Latin American Parliament

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The Latin American Parliament (Parlatino), also called the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament, is a permanent inter-parliamentary institution bringing together the national parliaments of 23 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean. It was founded in Lima, Peru, on December 10, 1964. Its core mandate includes promoting regional integration, defending democracy and human rights, and developing model legislation to harmonize laws across member states.

Government of Peru

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The Government of Peru (Gobierno de la República del Perú) is a unitary presidential republic whose current institutional framework was established by the Constitution of 1993. The president serves as head of state, head of government, and commander-in-chief, elected to a five-year term with consecutive re-election prohibited, and appoints a prime minister and Council of Ministers. The unicameral Congress holds 130 members elected for five-year terms, with powers including ratifying treaties and approving the national budget. The judicial branch is headed by a 16-member Supreme Court, with superior and provincial courts below it. Voting is compulsory for citizens between ages 18 and 70.

Secretariat of Government and Digital Transformation

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The Secretariat of Government and Digital Transformation (Secretaría de Gobierno y Transformación Digital) is a Peruvian government body established in February 2017 by presidential decree, serving as the governing body of Peru’s National Digital Transformation System – a framework established in January 2020 that organizes public agencies’ digital activities and promotes the use of technology across businesses, civil society, and academia. The secretariat, which began operations in early 2018, leads the country’s efforts to modernize public services through technology. Its role includes bringing together government agencies, businesses, civil society groups, universities, and ordinary citizens to shape digital policy.