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Archives: Dispatches

All Lingua Sinica Dispatches

Government of Indonesia

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The Government of the Republic of Indonesia (Pemerintah Republik Indonesia) is the sovereign government of Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelagic state, declared independent on August 17, 1945. Indonesia operates as a unitary republic under the Constitution of 1945, as amended through 2002, with executive authority vested in a directly elected president serving a maximum of two five-year terms. The legislative branch comprises a bicameral People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), consisting of the House of Representatives (DPR) and the Regional Representative Council (DPD). Press freedom and civil society organizations have faced increasing restrictions under successive administrations, with analysts warning of an accelerating erosion of democratic norms since 2024.

Government of Zambia

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The Government of the Republic of Zambia (贊比亞共和國政府) is the sovereign government of Zambia, a landlocked republic in southern Africa that gained independence from British colonial rule on October 24, 1964. According to the Commonwealth Local Government Forum, Zambia is a democratic republic with a unicameral parliament known as the National Assembly, with executive authority vested in a directly elected president serving a maximum of two five-year terms. In its 2024 country report, Human Rights Watch documented a pattern of increasing authoritarianism ahead of national elections scheduled for 2026, including restrictions on political opposition, interference with judicial independence, and public statements by the president that raised concerns about the government’s commitment to holding elections on schedule.

Chinese Ambassador Publishes Op-Ed on Global Security Initiative in Three Zambian Outlets

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On March 9, 2023, Du Xiaohui (杜曉暉), China’s ambassador to Zambia, published a signed op-ed titled “The Global Security Initiative: China’s Contribution to World Peace and Security” (全球安全倡議：為世界和平安全貢獻中國方案) in three Zambian outlets: the Zambia Daily Mail, the Daily Nation, and The Mast. The article promoted the Global Security Initiative (全球安全倡議), a framework proposed by Xi Jinping in April 2022 and elaborated in a concept document released by Foreign Minister Qin Gang (秦剛) on February 21, 2023. The piece presented the initiative’s “six adherences” (六個堅持) — including respect for sovereignty, adherence to the UN Charter, and resolution of disputes through dialogue — as an alternative to what it characterized as Western hegemony, Cold War thinking, and bloc confrontation. The article devoted particular attention to Africa, arguing that the initiative specifically addressed African security challenges, including support for the African Union’s role in conflict resolution and counterterrorism, and promotion of China’s Initiative on Peaceful Development in the Horn of Africa (非洲之角和平發展構想). It framed China and Zambia as sharing a “community of shared destiny” (休戚與共的命運共同體), a formulation that in CCP discourse signals expectations of political alignment, particularly on sovereignty-related questions where China’s positions diverge from Western-led norms.

Chinese Ambassador Visits Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation

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On March 28, 2023, Du Xiaohui (杜曉暉), China’s ambassador to Zambia, visited the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) in Lusaka and met with newly appointed Director-General Berry Lwando. According to the Chinese Embassy in Zambia (中華人民共和國駐贊比亞共和國大使館), Du congratulated Lwando on his appointment and said that ZNBC played an important role in promoting understanding and friendship between the peoples of the two countries, and that the embassy wished to deepen cooperation with ZNBC in the areas of capacity building and program resources. Lwando said ZNBC was willing to carry forward the traditional Zambia-China “friendship” and contribute to promoting bilateral relations — a term which, as the Decoding China Dictionary notes, “carries political expectations of alignment with China’s positions” and conditions relationships on accommodating China’s core interests. The visit took place one day after Du had published a signed op-ed in the Daily Nation and The Mast on the theme of democratic governance.

Chinese Embassy in Zambia

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The Chinese Embassy in Zambia (中華人民共和國駐贊比亞共和國大使館) is the official diplomatic mission of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Zambia, headquartered in Lusaka. China and Zambia established diplomatic relations on October 29, 1964 — five days after Zambia’s independence from British colonial rule — making China one of the first countries to recognize the newly independent state. The embassy oversees the full range of bilateral diplomatic activities between the two countries, including political exchanges, economic and trade cooperation, cultural diplomacy, and consular services for Chinese nationals in Zambia. It has been an active participant in Chinese state media engagement activities in Zambia, including the placement of signed op-eds by the ambassador in Zambian newspapers, official visits to state broadcasters, and coordination of media cooperation agreements. The embassy operates a WeChat account and a Facebook page as part of its public diplomacy activities, and publishes ambassador speeches, activities, and commentary on its official website in both Chinese and English.

StarTimes Communication Network Technology Co. Ltd.

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StarTimes Communication Network Technology Co. Ltd. (四達時代通訊網絡技術有限公司), formerly registered as Beijing StarTimes Communication Network Technology Co., Ltd. (北京四達時代通訊網絡技術有限公司), is a Beijing-based Chinese technology and engineering company incorporated on January 18, 2000, in Haidian District, Beijing, with a registered and fully paid capital of 132 million RMB. It is the primary contracting entity for StarTimes Group’s (四達時代集團) government engineering, procurement, and construction contracts in Africa, and is the entity named in AidData’s record — sourced to Zambia’s Auditor General — as having signed the 273 million US dollar commercial EPC contract with Zambia’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services on September 18, 2015. It holds the 60 percent controlling stake in TopStar Communications Company Limited and wholly owns Beijing StarTimes Media Co., Ltd. (北京四達時代傳媒有限公司). The company is owned 80 percent by Qinhuangdao Development Zone Sida Electronics Co., Ltd. (秦皇島開發區四達電子有限公司) and 20 percent by Tibet Pan-African Investment Co., Ltd. (西藏泛非投資有限公司) — both ultimately controlled by Chinese businessman Pang Xinxing (龐新星), whom the registry identifies as the beneficial owner of approximately 82.46 percent of the company across both shareholding paths. The Tibet entity was inserted as a 20 percent shareholder on July 10, 2015, replacing a prior Beijing-registered shareholder, just two months before the Zambia EPC contract was signed in September 2015. While AidData renders the company’s English name as “Star Times Communication Network Technology Co. Ltd.” without providing a corresponding Chinese name, the most likely entity in PRC company registry records is 四達時代通訊網絡技術有限公司.

Tibet Pan-African Investment Co., Ltd.

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Tibet Pan-African Investment Co., Ltd. (西藏泛非投資有限公司) is a Chinese investment holding company incorporated on January 28, 2015, in the Lhasa Economic and Technological Development Zone, Tibet Autonomous Region, with a registered and fully paid capital of 30 million RMB. Its sole shareholder, legal representative, and beneficial owner is Chinese businessman Pang Xinxing (龐新星), founder and chairman of StarTimes Group (四達時代集團). Its corporate email domain — liyc@startimes.com.cn — directly links it to StarTimes’ Beijing headquarters. In the StarTimes corporate structure it holds 20 percent of StarTimes Communication Network Technology Co., Ltd. (四達時代通訊網絡技術有限公司), which signed a 273 million US dollar EPC contract with Zambia’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services in September 2015, having been inserted as a shareholder on July 10, 2015 — two months before the contract was signed — replacing a prior Beijing-registered entity. Though the exact relation of the Tibet entity to the Gambian deal is unclear, Tibet registration is a common PRC tax optimization structure.

Qinhuangdao Development Zone Sida Electronics Co., Ltd.

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Qinhuangdao Development Zone Sida Electronics Co., Ltd. (秦皇島開發區四達電子有限公司) is a Chinese limited liability company incorporated on January 10, 1992, in the Qinhuangdao Economic and Technological Development Zone, Hebei Province, with a registered capital of 5 million RMB. According to PRC company registry records, its legal representative and controlling shareholder is Chinese businessman Pang Xinxing (龐新星), founder and chairman of StarTimes Group (四達時代集團), who holds approximately 78.07 percent of its registered capital and is identified as both actual controller and beneficial owner. The company’s primary significance in the StarTimes corporate structure is as the principal upstream shareholder — holding 80 percent — of StarTimes Communication Network Technology Co., Ltd. (四達時代通訊網絡技術有限公司), which signed a 273 million US dollar EPC contract with Zambia’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services in September 2015 and holds the 60 percent controlling stake in TopStar Communications Company Limited, Zambia’s official digital migration agent. As of April 2026, PRC registry records show 36 legal risk entries against the company, including a consumption restriction order.

StarTimes and Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation Establish TopStar Joint Venture for Digital Television Migration

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On May 12, 2016, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) and StarTimes Communication Network Technology Co. Ltd. (四達時代通訊網絡技術有限公司), a subsidiary of the Chinese media conglomerate StarTimes Group (四達時代集團), signed an agreement establishing TopStar Communications Company Limited as a joint venture to serve as Zambia’s official public signal distributor and digital migration agent, with StarTimes holding a 60 percent controlling stake and ZNBC 40 percent for an initial period of 25 years. According to AidData, the joint venture followed a commercial contract worth 273 million US dollars signed on September 18, 2015, between Zambia’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services and StarTimes Communication Network Technology Co. Ltd. The deal was financed through a 232 million US dollar preferential buyer’s credit signed on December 26, 2016, between the Export-Import Bank of China (中國進出口銀行) and the Government of Zambia, carrying a 2 percent fixed interest rate, a five-year grace period, and a 20-year maturity. AidData records that 63.5 percent of the loan proceeds (approximately 147.4 million US dollars) were on-lent to TopStar Communications Company Limited, with the remaining 36.5 percent (approximately 84.7 million US dollars) on-lent to ZNBC. Future dividends receivable from TopStar were pledged as collateral for the loan. Former ZNBC Director-General Chibamba Kanyama publicly described the arrangement as a “rip-off”, stating that digital migration could have been achieved for under 100 million US dollars without transferring majority control to a Chinese company. A peer-reviewed assessment by Norway’s Chr. Michelsen Institute concluded that StarTimes had “taken over some of ZNBC activities” and would “manage Topstar until the loan has been paid in full,” while noting that it had not taken over ZNBC as a whole. By December 2022, ZNBC and TopStar had accumulated more than 20 million US dollars in principal and interest arrears under their on-lending agreements, according to AidData.