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Archives: Dispatches

All Lingua Sinica Dispatches

Chinese Embassy in Portugal

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The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Portugal is China’s chief diplomatic mission to Portugal. The mission was established in September 1979, following the normalization of diplomatic relations between the People’s Republic of China and Portugal on February 8, 1979. The embassy attracted public attention in January 2023 when local residents raised concerns about its alleged surveillance practices. Residents expressed alarm that the three surveillance cameras installed at the facility might capture footage of surrounding residential apartments, raising questions about privacy and surveillance overreach beyond diplomatic premises. Following media coverage of the installations, local residents observed that the embassy had modified its surveillance setup, with one camera removed entirely and the remaining two repositioned away from the exterior perimeter of the embassy compound. 

Iris FM

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Iris FM is a regional radio station founded on December 1, 1985. Operating as an independent broadcaster, Iris FM provides news, music, and opinion programming across the southern Benavente municipality with an emphasis on editorial independence from political parties and local government. The station has expanded its operations to include a news website and podcast distribution of its programs. According to its editorial team, the station was established to serve the information needs of the southern Benavente region, which was experiencing significant demographic and socio-cultural growth during the 1980s. 

Xinhua President Meets with Reuters and AP Presidents

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On June 12, 2024, Xinhua News Agency President Fu Hua (傅華) met with Associated Press President and CEO Daisy Veerasingham and Reuters President Paul Bascobert in New York. Fu and Veerasingham signed a new cooperation agreement on news and information services, and both sides discussed artificial intelligence’s impact on media and Olympic coverage. Fu expressed hope for strengthening cooperation with Reuters on emerging technologies and international news services, noting the partnership between the two agencies dating back to 1957. While Xinhua provided enthusiastic coverage of the meetings, neither the Associated Press nor Reuters reported on them. These partnerships allow Western news agencies to operate in China, while Xinhua views the cooperation as part of China’s broader efforts to shape global discourse and enhance its government’s international image.

Xinhua Hosts Reuters, AP, and AFP in Beijing

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On December 1, 2023, Xinhua News Agency hosted leaders from the global newswires Reuters, AFP, and the Associated Press in Beijing, with Xinhua President Fu Hua (傅華) proposing a “high-level dialogue and cooperation mechanism” among the agencies. The meeting preceded the fifth World Media Summit in Guangzhou and Kunming. The World Media Summit (WMS), is a forum conceived by China in the midst of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and first held in October 2009, with the explicit idea on China’s part to expand its global influence and “discourse power” (話語權) through a semi-formal international mechanism under its leadership. Eight months ahead of the first meeting, Xinhua News Agency chief Li Congjun (李从军) wrote in the official periodical China Journalist that the event of conceived “[according] to the Central Committee’s strategic demand for ‘strengthening external propaganda’” (大外宣). At the 2023 event, participants discussed artificial intelligence, misinformation, and journalists’ safety. Fu Hua proposed expanded partnerships for video distribution and mutual humanitarian assistance in conflict zones. The gathering represented Xinhua’s effort to position itself alongside Western wire services, though the meeting’s outcomes and substantive commitments from participating agencies remained unclear from available reporting.

6th World Media Summit Held in Xinjiang

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On October 14, 2024, Xinhua News Agency and the Xinjiang regional government co-hosted the 6th World Media Summit in Urumqi, China, with over 500 participants from 106 countries and regions attending, according to Xinhua. The summit focused on “Artificial Intelligence and Media Transformation.” Organizers arranged a tour of Xinjiang for attendees, which Xinhua documented in vlogs featuring media representatives from Thailand, Pakistan, and Myanmar describing their positive impressions of the region. China faces widespread allegations of human rights violations against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, including mass detention and forced labor, which the U.S. has characterized as genocide. China rejects these accusations, claiming the facilities are vocational training centers. The World Media Summit (WMS), is a forum conceived by China in the midst of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and first held in October 2009, with the explicit idea on China’s part to expand its global influence and “discourse power” (話語權) through a semi-formal international mechanism under its leadership. Eight months ahead of the first meeting, Xinhua News Agency chief Li Congjun (李从军) wrote in the official periodical China Journalist that the event of conceived “[according] to the Central Committee’s strategic demand for ‘strengthening external propaganda’” (大外宣).

Xinhua Hosts Dialogue with Reuters, AP and AFP

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On October 12, 2024, representatives from Xinhua News Agency, Reuters, the Associated Press, and Agence France-Presse convened in Beijing for a high-level meeting among the four agencies. This was the second dialogue event hosted by Xinhua since the December 2023 inaugural meeting. Unlike the first meeting, which included top executives, the October gathering featured senior officials rather than agency leaders. According to Xinhua, the agencies discussed AI’s impact on journalism, with Xinhua’s president Fu Hua (傅華)  saying that AI poses many challenges to news reporting, including the risk of spreading false information through AI-generated images and videos. Fu suggested the agencies “embrace technological change” while combating misinformation, claiming “major global wire services should jointly shoulder the responsibility of upholding journalistic ethics.” Representatives from Reuters, AP, and AFP reportedly stated news agencies should redefine AI use while building safeguards, and all four agencies agreed to continue strengthening communication on AI-related topics. Xinhua has been keen to establish dialogue with the major international news wires in order to be seen as a key player in global information dissemination, but global news agencies have distanced themselves from the idea that cooperation with Xinhua relates to their professional journalism work — AP’s CEO emphasizing to US lawmakers in 2019 that cooperation is “purely commercial in nature.” 

CMG Signs Cooperation Agreement with Venezuelan Communication Ministry

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On September 13, 2023, the China Media Group ( 中央廣播電視總台), or CMG, and Venezuela’s Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information (Minci) signed a memorandum of understanding in Beijing. The signing took place during Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s state visit to China and was witnessed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Maduro. The president of China Media Group and  Venezuela’s communication minister signed the agreement. According to Chinese state media, the agreement established mechanisms for cooperation in content exchange, program co-production, technical innovation, market development, and personnel exchanges, which related reports characterized as strengthening the China-Venezuela “all-weather strategic partnership” through media collaboration.

InfoQuest

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InfoQuest is a media intelligence company and news agency, established in 1990 by founder and chairman Jalthong Patamapongs, a former executive at Thomson Reuters Thailand who previously led Thailand’s Agricultural Futures Exchange. The company offers media monitoring solutions across social, online, and traditional media platforms from thousands of domestic and international sources, alongside press release distribution services to local and global media outlets. InfoQuest operates a real-time news agency reporting on stock markets, finance, economics, investments, and world news. In 2021 the company was acquired by Dataxet, an integrated data intelligence holding company.

Dataxet

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Dataxet is a regional media intelligence holding founded in 2020 by a group of entrepreneurs and headquartered in Singapore. The company provides AI-powered integrated platforms and insight solutions for marketing and public relations professionals across Southeast Asia. The company operates under the brand Dataxet with its DXT360 platform offering social listening — software that tracks and analyzes online conversations about brands, industries, and competitors — alongside media monitoring and analytics services. Dataxet has signed a cooperation agreement with China’s state news agency Xinhua News Agency and its affiliate China Economic Information Service (中國經濟信息社), or CEIS, to market the Xinhua Silk Road Information Service to Thai businesses, which Dataxet describes as providing “high-quality business and financial information related to the Belt and Road Initiatives.” Dataxet is also a partner of Xinhuathai.com, Xinhua’s Thai-language platform.