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Archives: Dispatches

All Lingua Sinica Dispatches

Geoecohub

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Economic Center Network, operating digitally as Geoecohub, is a Georgian news website with editor-in-chief Liana Jorjoliani. Jorjoliani has maintained a sustained focus on Chinese affairs since at least 2015, participating in China’s 2019 Visiting Program for Young Sinologists and covering the 20th National Congress of the CCP in October 2022 as a foreign correspondent in Beijing. In her 2022 coverage, Jorjoliani praised China’s anti-corruption efforts and environmental policies, stating “China shows zero tolerance in opposing corruption, which reflects the Chinese government’s strong sense of responsibility” — a highly uncritical and, many experts would argue, uninformed perception of related policies — and describing the Congress organization as “excellent” evidence of “China’s open attitude.” Her reporting, including the widespread use of state media content from Xinhua News Agency and China News Service, occurs within the context of Georgia’s 2023 Strategic Partnership with China, which elevated bilateral relations and committed Georgia to “strengthen coordination and collaboration” with Beijing on regional and international affairs. Research by Civic Idea has documented pro-China propaganda networks in Georgian media following the partnership’s signing. Geoecohub has prominently promoted clear propaganda from China, including 2025 reports from a Xinhua News Agency think tank that purport to “reveal the truth about external forces interfering in the South China Sea issue.” Jorjoliani participated in the February 2026 Belt and Road Media Cooperation Forum journalist delegation touring Chinese industrial sites.The registration information for the Geoecohub website provides a Russia-based e-mail contact, medea23@rambler.ru, that links to the Facebook account of “Lika Zhorzholiani,” apparently an alternate spelling for Liana Jorjoliani.

Media Center “Mutavari”

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Media Center “Mutavari” is a Georgian media organization founded and led by Catherine Gulua, who serves as general manager and editor-in-chief. Gulua is a veteran journalist with approximately 20 years of experience in news reporting, investigative journalism, and media training. She graduated from Tbilisi Ivane Javakhishvili State University with degrees in history and arts/humanities. Gulua has participated in numerous international programs, including U.S. State Department initiatives on trafficking in persons, NATO information programs, and training with Reuters Foundation and the International Center for Journalists in Washington, D.C. She has also completed programs on government monitoring, reproductive health reporting, and anti-corruption journalism through organizations including the Polish-Czech-Slovak Solidarity Foundation and Population Reference Bureau. Gulua has made multiple documented visits to China since 2023 as part of government-sponsored journalist tours.

Africa Media Holdings

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Africa Media Holdings is a Lesotho-based publishing company founded in 2008 by Zimbabwean journalist Basildon Peta, who serves as CEO. The company publishes the Lesotho Times, a weekly launched 2008, and Sunday Express, launched in 2009 — both operating under the masthead “News without fear or favor” and distributed in Lesotho and to Basotho audiences in South Africa. Peta, born circa 1972, is a veteran investigative journalist who fled Zimbabwe in 2002 after detention and persecution by the Robert Mugabe regime for reporting on corruption; he was the second journalist to receive the Media Institute of Southern Africa’s Press Freedom Award. African Media Holdings has faced sustained government pressure in Lesotho, including the 2016 shooting of editor Lloyd Mutungamiri and criminal defamation charges against Peta, which resulted in a landmark 2018 Constitutional Court ruling declaring criminal defamation unconstitutional. The company also operated the Free State Times and has faced financial difficulties, including a 2015 legal judgment requiring Peta to personally pay 125,000 US dollars under guarantee for debts owed to the Media Development Investment Fund, a New York-based NGO that provides financial assistance to independent media organizations. Peta participated in the February 2026 Belt and Road Media Cooperation Forum journalist delegation touring Chinese industrial sites.

RSS and Xinhua Sign Agreement

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On August 29, 2025, Nepal’s government announced that its cabinet had approved an agreement for its national news agency, Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS), and China’s Xinhua News Agency to exchange news content. Under the agreement, Xinhua provides RSS with news, photographs, video, and multimedia content in English at no cost. The agreement also included provisions for the exchange of reporters, editors, and technical experts between the two state-owned agencies, along with joint training programs and the sharing of expertise in integrating news technologies. Minister for Communications and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung indicated that the agreement would be signed during Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s visit to China. 

CMG and Nepal TV Sign Agreement

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On December 3, 2024, the vice president of China Media Group (CMG), Xing Bo (邢博), and a representative from Nepal’s Foreign Ministry signed a cooperation memorandum between CMG and Nepal Television in Beijing during Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s official visit to China. The agreement covers content exchange, joint production, personnel exchanges, and technical cooperation, according to Chinese state media. Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強) and Prime Minister Oli witnessed the signing. The deal was one of nine agreements signed during Oli’s December visit.

Chinese Ambassador Publishes Anti-U.S. Tariff Op-Ed

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On April 30, 2025, Chinese Ambassador to Portugal Zhao Bentang (趙本堂) published a signed article in the Portuguese newspaper Diário de Notícias promoting Beijing’s position against US trade policy. The op-ed characterized American reciprocal tariffs as “hegemonic bullying”  (強權霸凌) following Trump’s April 2 announcement of sweeping global tariffs. Trump initially imposed a 34 percent rate on Chinese goods, which later escalated to 145 percent through tit-for-tat retaliation. Citing Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel’s March visit to Beijing and quoting Xi Jinping, Zhao argued China was defending its rights and international fairness while casting the US as the aggressor.

Chinese Ambassador Pens Article on China-EU Relations

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On July 22, 2025, Ambassador Zhao Bentang published a signed article in Portugal’s Diário de Notícias to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties established on May 6, 1975, between China and the European Economic Community (EEC). Although the EU was formally established in 1993, both sides recognize 1975 as the official start of their diplomatic history. The article emphasized growing bilateral trade and criticized “unilateralism and bullying behavior” (單邊主義，霸凌行徑), an apparent criticism of the United States and the imposition of tariffs. Ambassador Zhao also noted the 20th anniversary of China-Portugal’s comprehensive strategic partnership, established in 2005. Zhao called on Europe to “respect China’s core interests with practical actions” (以實際行動尊重中方核心利益) and to follow the “One China Principle” (一個中國原則) — an assertion of China’s claimed sovereignty over Taiwan. This demand is at odds with the Taiwan positions upheld by many members of the European Union, who adhere to their own understandings of “one China” that do not endorse the PRC’s sovereignty claims over Taiwan. Most EU states use strategic language in their diplomatic communiqués. Instead of “recognizing” that Taiwan is part of China, they often “acknowledge,” “take note of,” or “understand and respect” Beijing’s position that Taiwan is part of China. This allows them to avoid taking a formal legal stance on Taiwan’s sovereignty.

Chinese Ambassador Pens Article Praising China’s Economy

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On November 24, 2023, Chinese Ambassador to Spain Yao Jing (姚敬) published a signed article in the Barcelona-based newspaper El Periódico advancing China’s economic messaging. Titled “China Will Promote Common Global Development Through High-Level Opening-Up” (中國將以高水平對外開放推動世界共同發展), the piece says China’s growth in the first three quarters of 2023 reached 5.2 percent, which Yao framed as demonstrating the “correctness” of Chinese government policies. He highlighted the opening of the China International Import Expo, positioning China as a contributor to global economic development. Despite targeting a foreign audience, the article was full of official CCP terminologies, including political signaling such as a reference to “the central CCP leadership with Xi Jinping as the core” (習近平同志為核心的黨中央). 

Prensa Ibérica

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Founded in 1984, Prensa Ibérica is a regional media company that publishes 26 newspapers and four magazines and operates digital platforms focused on local and regional news across nine Spanish autonomous communities. Founded by businessman Javier Moll l and based in Barcelona, the company produces print and digital journalism emphasizing provincial coverage outside Madrid’s traditional media sphere. In 2021, the group launched El Periódico de España.