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Chinese Ambassador Criticizes Tariffs in German Media

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On April 24, 2025, the Chinese Ambassador to Germany published an article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung titled “Tariff Abuse Is Turning Back the Clock of History” (濫施關稅是開歷史倒車), criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs on global imports. The article referenced the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, a U.S. protectionist measure that raised tariffs on thousands of imported goods and triggered retaliatory tariffs worldwide, contributing to the Great Depression. Deng accused the US of prioritizing its own interests over global development and characterized American tariff policy as “blatant protectionism and unilateral bullying.” The article, clearly intended to encourage German and European support against the trade actions of the Trump administration, called for China and Europe to strengthen cooperation in maintaining a rules-based multilateral trading system.

Handelsblatt

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Handelsblatt is a German daily business and financial newspaper founded in 1946 and published by the Düsseldorf-based Handelsblatt Media Group. The publication covers business, economics, and financial markets, with particular focus on German industry and international trade. Handelsblatt maintains correspondents in major financial centers, including Shanghai and Beijing. The newspaper has featured contributions from political leaders, including former Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, before his 2024 visit to Germany, and in February 2025 from the Chinese ambassador to Germany. 

Handelsblatt Media Group

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The Handelsblatt Media Group is a German media company based in Düsseldorf, founded in 1946 as part of DvH Medien. Specializing in business and financial journalism, the group publishes the business daily newspaper Handelsblatt and the weekly magazine Wirtschaftswoche. Beyond its publications, the company offers marketing, corporate content, and strategic communications services.

DvH Medien GmbH

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Founded in 2009, DvH Medien GmbH is a media holding group owned by media entrepreneur Dieter von Holtzbrinck, one of several heirs to the Holtzbrinck publishing empire who was also director of Dow Jones & Co. Inc. until its takeover in July 2007 by media mogul Rupert Murdoch. The company oversees three media groups: Handelsblatt Media Group, Tagesspiegel Publishing Group, and Die Zeit Publishing Group. The group’s publications include the business newspaper Handelsblatt, the daily Der Tagesspiegel, and the weekly DIE ZEIT. 

Vijesti

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Vijesti is a Montenegrin daily newspaper founded in 1997 and based in Podgorica. Identifying itself with the label “independent daily” (nezavisni dnevnik), the paper is owned by its four founders (59 percent), the Austrian media company Styria Medien AG (25 percent), and the US-based Media Development Investment Fund (16 percent). Vijesti maintains a centre to centre-left editorial stance with pro-European and anti-corruption positions. The newspaper has a print circulation of approximately 2,900 and receives over 6 million online visits monthly. In May 2018, Vijesti investigative reporter Olivera Lakić was shot outside her home in Podgorica while covering crime and corruption stories.

Media Development Investment Fund

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Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF), formerly Media Development Loan Fund, is a New York-registered not-for-profit corporation with 501(c)(3) public charity status founded in 1995 by Saša Vučinić and Stuart Auerbach. The organization specializes in impact investing, providing low-cost debt, equity, and quasi-equity financing to independent news and information businesses in countries with a history of media oppression. Over 30 years, MDIF has provided 330.5 million dollars in total financing and currently manages 125.8 million in assets, having invested in 158 media companies across 50 countries. The fund helps journalists build sustainable businesses around professional, quality journalism. In 2016, Russia declared MDIF an “undesirable” organization and banned it.

Styria Medien AG

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Styria Media Group, or Styria Medien AG, is one of Austria’s largest media companies, founded in 1869 and headquartered in Graz. The company emerged from the Catholic Press Association in the Diocese of Graz-Seckau and remains 98.33 percent owned by the Catholic Media Association Private Foundation (Katholischer Medien Verein Privatstiftung). Styria operates internationally with significant holdings in Slovenia and Croatia, employing approximately 2,500 people who generated combined market revenue of 420 million EUR in 2023. The company’s portfolio spans daily and weekly newspapers (including the flagship Kleine Zeitung), magazines, book publishers, radio stations, and digital marketplaces. Styria positions itself as a forward-looking, independent media group guided by its purpose to provide guidance, build trust, and foster community.

Chinese Embassy Pressures Montenegro Newspaper

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The Chinese Embassy in Montenegro demanded that the Montenegrin newspaper Vijesti remove an interview with Taiwan representative to Hungary Liu Shih-chung on March 11, 2024, one day after its publication. The interview, published March 10, covered Taiwan’s democratic development, the impact of the Russo-Ukraine War on the Taiwan Strait, and criticized China’s Belt and Road Initiative in the Balkans, alleging that it had caused debt crises and encouraged corruption. Vijesti rejected the embassy’s request, stating it is an independent and free news outlet and that the content “cannot be removed.” The incident represents direct Chinese official pressure on foreign media to censor content related to Taiwan.

Guangzhou Hosts Cross-Strait and Southeast Asia Media Tour

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More than 40 Chinese-language journalists and creators from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and Southeast Asia took part in the “2025 Cross-Strait and Southeast Asian Chinese-Language Media Guangzhou Tour” (两岸暨港澳·东南亚华文媒体广州行) on December 2, 2025, in Guangzhou. The three-day program, themed “New Quality in the Bay Area, New Colors in Yangcheng” (湾区新质 羊城新彩), brought participants to tech parks, industrial zones, and cultural landmarks — emphasizing the official framing of the “Greater Bay Area,” a development vision including southern Chinese cities along with Hong Kong and Macau. The event was hosted by the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (海峡两岸关系协会), or ARATS, and the Guangzhou Taiwan Affairs Office (广州市台办), together with the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Guangdong People’s Government (廣東省人民政府台灣事務辦公室) and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council (國務院台灣事務辦公室). Ma Xiaoguang (马晓光), vice-president of ARATS, said the event aimed to showcase Guangzhou’s development and promote “telling China’s story” (讲好中国故事). At the launch ceremony, the original song “Hand in Hand” (心手相牵), which coverage by the CCP’s official People’s Daily called “a collaboration between Guangzhou and Taiwan,” was released, along with a propaganda micro-documentary series. Among the participants in the event, one report mentioned the presence of Li Yixiu (李易修), a pro-China Taiwanese influencer known as “History Brother” (歷史哥), and a “Taiwan youth” identified as Yang Shuping (杨舒评).