Skip to main content

Archives: Dispatches

All Lingua Sinica Dispatches

Politika

Written by Editors on .

Politika is Serbia’s oldest and most influential daily newspaper, first published on January 25, 1904, in Belgrade by founder and editor Vladislav Ribnikar. The inaugural issue was printed in 2,450 copies across four pages, priced at five para. Throughout its history, Politika has twice ceased publication during wartime: from 1914-1919 during World War I and from April 1941 to October 1944 during World War II. The newspaper also suspended operations in summer 1992 due to a journalists’ strike protesting government attempts to convert it into a state enterprise. Today, Politika maintains its position as one of Serbia’s most respected newspapers, adhering to high professional journalistic standards while fostering dialogue and freedom of expression. The publication has collaborated with notable literary figures, including Nobel laureate Ivo Andrić and Winston Churchill.

CICG Asia-Pacific

Written by Editors on .

The China International Communication Group Asia-Pacific (中國外文局亞太傳播中心) serves as the Chinese central government’s primary multilingual media platform targeting the Asia-Pacific region. Operating under the China International Communications Group, which was established in October 1949, the organization publishes prestigious journals in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, English and Esperanto, including People’s China (人民中國), launched in January 1950, and Beijing Review (北京周報), founded in March 1958. The center operates multiple websites and social media accounts across languages while producing multimedia content promoting China’s image abroad. It sponsors cultural exchange initiatives like the Panda Cup essay contest for foreign youth, launched in 2014, which has expanded across Japan, South Korea, Thailand and other countries. With publications spanning traditional Chinese characters and multiple Asian languages, CICG Asia-Pacific represents a sophisticated arm of China’s international propaganda apparatus, functioning as an integrated communications platform owned and operated by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party.

People’s Government of Yunnan Province

Written by Editors on .

The People’s Government of Yunnan Province (雲南省人民政府) serves as the provincial administrative body for Yunnan, founded in December 1949. Under China’s single-party political structure, the governor answers to the secretary of the Yunnan Provincial Committee of the CCP (中共雲南省委). Originally established as the Yunnan Provincial Military and Political Commission, the institution has been renamed multiple times throughout its existence: becoming the Yunnan Provincial People’s Committee (雲南省人民委員會) in April 1955, then the Yunnan Provincial Revolutionary Committee (雲南省革命委員會) in August 1968 during the Cultural Revolution, before adopting its present name in December 1979. Information management and external propaganda (外宣) within the government are handled by the Yunnan Provincial People’s Government Information Office, which manages the official Yunnan Gateway multimedia news platform that features an English-language website targeting international audiences. Yunnan Gateway and the information office also now overlap with the Yunnan International Communication Center for South and Southeast Asia (雲南省南亞東南亞區域國際傳播中心).

The National

Written by Editors on .

Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Port Moresby, The National claims to be Papua New Guinea’s top-selling weekday English language newspaper. Owned by Malaysian multinational Rimbunan Hijau, a major logging corporation controlled by businessman Tiong Hiew King, the publication operates five offices in the cities of Lae, Mount Hagen, Kokopo, Madang, and Goroka. As one of Papua New Guinea’s two major daily newspapers, alongside the Post-Courier, The National operates with both print and online editions.

Ministry of Communication, Information Technologies, and Media of Burundi

Written by Editors on .

The Ministry of Communication, Information Technologies, and Media of Burundi is the primary government body overseeing telecommunications, broadcasting, and digital development in the East African nation. The ministry supervises key state enterprises, including the National Telecommunications Office (ONATEL), the National Postal Authority, and the national broadcaster Radio Television Nationale du Burundi. The ministry sets policies and regulations for telecommunications and information technologies development, implementing Burundi’s National ICT Development Policy (2010-2025) to promote digital transformation.

The Multimedia Group

Written by Editors on .

The Multimedia Group is Ghana’s largest independent media and entertainment company, operating six radio stations, three digital platforms, and the country’s first free-to-air multi-channel television network. Founded in 1995 by entrepreneur Kwasi Twum, a past President of the Ghana Independent Broadcasters’ Association (GIBA), with 12 employees, the company now employs approximately 600 staff and reaches audiences across Ghana and beyond through brands including Joy FM, Adom FM, Multi TV, and platforms MyJoyOnline.com and AdomOnline.com. The organization has established itself as an independent voice reporting on corruption and social issues while supporting local communities through educational and healthcare initiatives. Multi TV, launched in 2009, extended media access to remote areas previously without coverage and exports Ghanaian programming across Africa and parts of Europe. The company positions itself as sub-Saharan Africa’s largest media entity.

The Filipino-Chinese Amity Club

Written by Editors on .

The Filipino-Chinese Amity Club (菲華聯誼總會) is a Philippines-based overseas Chinese community organization. It was founded in 1974, one year before the normalization of China-Philippines diplomatic relations. The Club is described as a “patriotic organization” (愛國團體) that has operated “under the strong support of the Chinese embassy in the Philippines” (在中國駐菲使館的大力支持下), regularly inviting Chinese delegations to visit and organizing trade missions to China, including to China’s import and export fair in Canton. The Club published Lianyi Weekly (聯誼週刊) — or “Friendship Weekly” — in 1978, which later became The World News (菲律賓世界日報), which now advertises itself as the Philippines’ largest Chinese-language daily. Both the language of “frIendship” in the original publication title and the reference to “amity” in the club’s name suggest a close relationship with what China calls “united front work,” he effort to cultivate loyalty and political alignment among overseas Chinese communities and foreign elites in service of the Chinese Communist Party’s strategic interests abroad. In October 2022, the Club hosted a study session promoting the Chinese Communist Party’s annual legislative session, the 20th National Congress, which cites the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines. In May 2023, it was awarded the “Light of the Chinese Community” (華社之光) title at the 10th Conference for Friendship of Overseas Chinese Associations （第十屆世界華僑華人社團聯誼大會) in Beijing –  an event co-hosted by China’s Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, which since 2018 has functioned as an external name of the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department. The Club has branches across the Philippines, including in Cebu, Central Luzon, and Davao, and its stated mission includes promoting China-Philippines friendship and Chinese cultural preservation among the overseas Chinese community.

Chubun

Written by Editors on .

Chubun, a Japanese Chinese-language weekly publication, claims to be “Japan’s largest and most influential” Chinese-language newspaper since its September 1992 founding. According to its own “About Us” page, the outlet describes itself as maintaining an “overseas Chinese perspective” with focus on Sino-Japanese relations and Chinese community news, while covering international affairs, economics, and culture. The publication says it has “evolved from print to embrace digital media” and collaborates with Japanese mainstream outlets to “bridge cultural divides.” Chubun characterizes its readership as spanning “academics, business leaders, students, and Japanese learners of Chinese” and asserts it has established itself as a “vital communication channel between China and Japan,” claiming to be “frequently cited by media across Greater China.” The site design of Chubun is oddly old-fashioned, full of content components including, as of July 2025, a Covid-19 survey along the left-hand margin. Much of the featured content has clear affinities with official state media talking points. Featured videos like this one, posted to the publication’s YouTube account, advertise overseas Chinese association activities that seem aligned with the PRC government.

World Tourism Organization

Written by Editors on .

The United Nations World Tourism Organization, rebranded as UN Tourism in 2023, is a specialized UN agency headquartered in Madrid, Spain, that promotes responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism worldwide. Established in 1975, it serves as a global forum for tourism policy and research, encouraging competitiveness, innovation, education, investments, and digital transformation in the tourism sector. The organization operates with 160 member states, six associate members, and over 500 affiliate members, conducting business in six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. Notable non-members include the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, with several countries having withdrawn from membership over different periods. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism represented one in ten global jobs, with international arrivals reaching 1.5 billion in 2019.