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All Lingua Sinica Dispatches

Chinese Ambassador Writes Xinjiang Article in Portuguese Media

On April 12, 2021, the Chinese Ambassador to Portugal published a signed article in the Portuguese newspaper Diário de Notícias titled “The Truth about Human Rights Issues in Xinjiang” (關於新疆人權問題的真相). The article reframed the Xinjiang issue as a security matter rather than a human rights concern, characterizing it as one of “anti-violence, counter-terrorism, and anti-separatism” (反暴力、反恐怖主義和反分裂問題), according to the Chinese embassy. The article also claimed that ethnic minority cultures in Xinjiang had been “well preserved” and highlighted economic growth over the previous 60 years. The piece responded to longstanding accusations by Western governments and human rights organizations regarding mass detention, forced labor, and cultural suppression in Xinjiang. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which passed the U.S. Senate in July 2021 and was signed into law in December 2021, prohibited imports of goods from Xinjiang unless importers could prove they were not made with forced labor.

China Signs Media Deal With RTVC

On October 24, 2023, a signing ceremony for the “China Time” project was held at RTVC Sistema de Medios Públicos (Radio Televisión Nacional de Colombia) in Bogotá. The signing established a formal media cooperation agreement between Colombian public broadcaster RTVC and Chinese media entities as part of the “Chinese Television Theater” initiative’s expansion into Latin America. The project was organized by China’s National Radio and Television Administration (國家廣播電視總局) and the Chongqing Municipal Government. Chongqing Jiazuo Film and Culture Media Co. (重慶佳左影視文化傳媒有限公司) and Classic Media China Internacional (經典傳媒中國國際有限公司), a Chinese-based company operating in Peru, signed the cooperation memorandum with the Colombian broadcaster. The ceremony featured exhibitions of Chongqing’s cultural heritage, including paper cutting, embroidery, lacquer screens, tea ceremonies, and Tai Chi performances. According to Chinese state media, the program aims to broadcast Chinese television series, documentaries, and films to “nearly 500 million Latin American viewers,” including shows like The Three-Body Problem, Mountain and Sea Love, and youth-oriented narratives. Chinese officials described the agreement as having “milestone significance” in China’s media collaboration with Latin American countries.

People’s Daily Hosts Belt and Road Media Event in Kazakhstan

On June 29, 2024, China’s official People’s Daily (人民日报) newspaper and Kazakh media organizations held a “High-Quality Belt and Road Joint Interview Results Sharing Conference” in Astana, Kazakhstan. The event was attended by Kazakh Parliament Upper House members Galiyaska Sarebayev and Alisher Satvardiyev, with media participants including People’s Daily Deputy Editor-in-Chief Xu Lijing (徐立京) and Zihan Kamzabekulei, the general manager of the Kazakhstan Truth newspaper group. According to official Chinese media coverage, the participants claimed the joint initiative would help media “play a bridge role” and “tell the Silk Road story well” — an echo of Xi Jinping’s policy on the conduct of external propaganda (外宣). Another theme of the event was advancing “high-quality Belt and Road construction” (高质量共建”一带一路”) between China and Kazakhstan.

Annual Reception for Chinese Media and Japanese Corporations held by Keizai Koho Center

On December 4, 2024, the Keizai Koho Center (經濟廣報中心), the international communications arm of Keidanren (經團連), Japan’s most influential business lobby, hosted its annual reception for Chinese media correspondents and Japanese corporate representatives in Tokyo. Held yearly since 2005, the event was paused during the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed in 2022. According to KKC, over 70 attendees participated, including 45 journalists from 24 Chinese media outlets such as China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台), Xinhua News Agency (新華通訊社), and People’s Daily (人民日報). KKC Senior Managing Director Ryo Watanabe referenced the November 2024 Japan-China summit in Peru, at which Prime Minister Ishiba and President Xi reaffirmed their commitment to “constructive and stable” bilateral relations.

Xinjiang Associations and Nan Hai Media Host New Year Gala

A gala performance for the Lunar New Year was held in Sydney on February 8, 2016, showcasing Xinjiang culture to overseas Chinese communities. The event was co-organized by the Australian Chinese Arts and Literature Association (澳華文聯), Australia’s Nanhai Media (南海傳媒), and the Australia-China Xinjiang Association (澳大利亞中國新疆聯誼會). The evening featured top Xinjiang artists performing Uyghur songs, dances, instrumental music, and variety performances, including selections from the Twelve Muqam, designated a UNESCO World Heritage in 2005. The “Cultural China, Charming Xinjiang” touring program, launched in 2006, had previously performed in Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, India, and Malaysia, reaching over 70,000 audience members.

China Daily Runs Inserts In Jakarta Post

The Jakarta Post, an English language newspaper published by Indonesia’s PT Bina Media Tenggara, a media and consulting firm, reportedly signed a content-sharing arrangement with the Chinese government-run China Daily (中國日報) in 2016 to regularly publish a “China Watch” (看中國) insert. The specific date of the agreement, however, remains undocumented in public sources. China’s Mission to ASEAN stated in October 2016 that the cooperation “opens a new window for the Indonesian people to understand China.” The Indonesian newspaper’s editor-in-chief characterized the collaboration as “purely commercial,” telling Voice of America that China Daily “buys space for ads for its content” with disclaimers, and that there is “no editorial collaboration.” Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, director of China-Indonesia Studies at the Center of Economic and Law Studies, noted in an interview with Taiwan’s Central News Agency in 2023 that the paper republishes content from China Daily and Xinhua (新華社), as well as articles by Chinese ambassadors. According to CNA, The Jakarta Post has published a full-page insert from the People’s Daily (人民日報), the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper, every Friday since late 2023.

People’s Daily and Zambian Media Conduct Joint Reporting on China-Africa Cooperation

On July 29, 2024, the People’s Daily (人民日報) and several Zambian media outlets conducted a joint reporting visit in Lusaka under the theme “China-Africa Cooperation in the New Era” (新時代中非合作) — described as the first such joint reporting exercise between Chinese and Zambian media conducted on Zambian soil. Journalists from the People’s Daily, the Zambia Daily Mail, and the Daily Nation visited the Lusaka Park of the Zambia-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone (中贊經貿合作區), described in the People’s Daily report as China’s first economic and trade cooperation zone in Africa. According to the People’s Daily, as of June 2024 the zone hosted nearly 90 Chinese enterprises with total investment exceeding 2.7 billion US dollars, and cumulative sales revenue of more than 28 billion US dollars. The joint visit was framed in the People’s Daily as an exercise in “telling the story of China-Zambia and China-Africa cooperation in the new era” (講好新時代中贊、中非合作故事) and “telling the story of high-quality Belt and Road Initiative co-construction” (講好高質量共建一帶一路故事) — formulations that echo Xi Jinping’s directive to “tell China’s story well” (講好中國故事), first issued at the 2013 National Propaganda and Ideology Work Conference. The report was published in the People’s Daily on July 31, 2024.

China and Pakistan Cooperate on Fake News

On July 10, 2025, Pakistan and China agreed to enhance bilateral media cooperation and develop joint broadcasting projects to combat fake news and disinformation, according to Radio Pakistan — though it was not clear how the sides viewed these concepts, or how they intended to respond. The agreement emerged from a Beijing meeting between Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and Cao Shumin (曹淑敏), a deputy minister of the Central Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the CCP. Both officials emphasized creating a “joint narrative against fake news” and promoting technical training and institutional collaboration between their state broadcasters. The discussions included plans for cooperation between China’s national state-run broadcaster, China Central Television (CCTV), and the national Pakistan Television (PTV), with Tarar highlighting how Pakistani state media entities were already promoting Chinese development stories, the Belt and Road Initiative, and bilateral cooperation to their respective audiences.

Belt and Road Media Forum Held in Yangjiang

China Media Group (中央廣播電視總台) convened nearly 300 media representatives from 20 countries in Yangjiang (陽江), Guangdong Province, on December 7 for the 2025 Silk Road Television Community Summit Forum (絲綢之路電視共同體高峰論壇). Guangdong Provincial Party Secretary Huang Kunming (黃坤明) attended the opening ceremony alongside CMG Director and Central Propaganda Department Deputy Head Shen Haixiong (慎海雄), who delivered the keynote address. The state broadcaster used the event to advance media cooperation with countries participating in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (一帶一路) — Beijing’s infrastructure and development program spanning Asia, Africa, and Europe — hosting panels on AI-generated content and international sports broadcasting rights. Participants toured local manufacturing facilities and cultural heritage sites, including the Southern Song dynasty shipwreck “Nanhai No. 1” (南海一號), an 800-year-old merchant vessel salvaged in 2007 that authorities present as historical evidence legitimizing the modern Belt and Road Initiative. The forum released an “International Media Cooperation Yangjiang Initiative” (國際媒體合作陽江倡議) and annual work report for the Silk Road Television Community (絲綢之路電視共同體), a China Media Group-led international broadcasting alliance established in 2016 that now encompasses 149 media institutions from 64 countries. CMG announced new content distribution projects including CGTN Spanish channel broadcasts targeting Latin America. Yangjiang Mayor Yu Jinfu (余金富) delivered remarks in English promoting the coastal city’s role in historical maritime trade routes.