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Archives: Dispatches

All Lingua Sinica Dispatches

Guang Ming Daily

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The Guang Ming Daily (光明日報) — not to be confused with the PRC publication of the same name — is the third-largest Chinese-language newspaper in Malaysia, established initially as Sin Pin Jit Poh (星檳日報) in the northern Malay Peninsula by entrepreneur and philanthropist Aw Boon Haw (胡文虎). After Sin Pin Jit Poh closed due to financial difficulties in 1986, a group of journalists and businesspeople founded Guang Ming Daily on December 18, 1987, for the Chinese community in northern Malaysia, particularly in Penang. The newspaper changed ownership several times during its first five years before being acquired by Tiong Hiew King (張曉卿) in November 1992. The publication, which is today challenged by the rise of digital platforms and apps popular among younger Malaysian Chinese, reports on news, health, culture, and local affairs for Malaysia’s Chinese-speaking readers, with a stated mission of “speaking for ordinary people” and a focus on community issues and social advocacy. 

Malaysia China Insight

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Malaysia China Insight (馬中透視) is a Malaysian media platform established in 2013 that focuses on Malaysia-China business news through multiple channels including a trilingual news app, a newspaper, a bilingual English-Chinese magazine, and KenaliTV, a video channel offering content in Malay and English. Based in the capital of Kuala Lumpur, the platform provides news coverage in English, simplified Chinese, and Bahasa Malaysia, positioning itself as a platform for bilateral business information between Malaysia and China.

NDR

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NDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk) is a German public radio and television broadcaster headquartered in Hamburg, established on January 1, 1956. NDR creates Germany’s most-watched national news program Tagesschau and operates multiple radio stations, including NDR 2, a popular music station; NDR Kultur, an arts and culture station that plays classical music; and N-Joy, a music station, as well as the regional television channel NDR Fernsehen. The broadcaster employs approximately 3,400 permanent staff and is funded through mandatory German household broadcasting fees. 

Table Briefings

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Table Media is a digital news and policy information organization founded in 2019 and headquartered in Berlin, Germany, known for its “Table Briefings” channel. The company provides subscription-based, in-depth briefings covering diplomacy, technology, education, sustainability, European affairs, and global political and economic developments — with briefing channels also focusing on countries and regions including China, Europe, and Africa. The organization cliaims to have the largest team dedicated to Chinese content and coverage in the German media landscape. Jhy-wey Shieh, Taiwan’s representative in Germany, has described Table Media as an “investigative media” outlet operating Germany’s largest China-focused team.

Chinese Embassy in Montenegro

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The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Montenegro (中華人民共和國駐黑山大使館) was established in July 2006, following Montenegro’s declaration of independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro in June of that year. China recognized Montenegro’s independence on June 14, 2006, and formal diplomatic relations were established on July 6, 2006, with the Chinese consulate in Podgorica transformed into an embassy the following day. Located in the capital city of Podgorica, the embassy serves as Beijing’s primary diplomatic mission for bilateral relations, consular services, trade promotion, and cultural exchanges between the two nations. In July 2024, the embassy hosted a trade and technology forum attended by more than a hundred government officials and business representatives, resulting in several preliminary cooperation agreements between Chinese and Montenegrin enterprises. In March 2024, the embassy attempted to pressure the Montenegrin newspaper Vijesti to remove an interview with Taiwan’s representative to Hungary, Liu Shih-chung, who had discussed Taiwan’s democracy and economic development. The newspaper refused, responding that it “cannot be removed” and affirming its independence as a news outlet.

Ministry of Culture and Media Montenegro

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The Ministry of Culture and Media of Montenegro is responsible for shaping and implementing national policies in culture, heritage protection, creative industries, and the media sector. Its mandate includes preserving and promoting Montenegro’s cultural heritage, supporting artistic creation, strengthening media freedom and professionalism, and advancing cultural industries. Through directorates for artistic creation, cultural heritage, media, and creative industries, the ministry funds projects, safeguards traditions, and fosters innovation. It also leads international cultural cooperation and actively includes civil society and NGOs in policy development.

The Star

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The Star (星報) is a Malaysian English-language newspaper founded in September 1971 as a regional newspaper in the city of George Town, in the northwest Malaysian state of Penang. The Malaysian Chinese Association (馬來西亞華人公會), a right-wing political party, holds a controlling stake of the newspaper. The Star maintains its position as one of Malaysia’s largest-circulating English-language newspapers, with over 250,000 daily print copies and more than 1 million digital readers, covering politics, business, current affairs, lifestyle, entertainment, and sports — though print publications generally in the country face rising challenges from new digital platforms. The newspaper has claimed that it pioneered online news in Malaysia by launching The Star Online on June 23, 1995, as the country’s first news website. 

Malay Mail 

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The Malay Mail is a Malaysian news outlet founded in 1896, making it the country’s oldest English-language newspaper. After ceasing its print operations in 2018, it now operates as a digital-first publication covering politics, lifestyle, business, and technology. That same year, it launched Cincai News (精彩大馬), a Chinese-language sister news portal. While the publication was originally created for professionals and the business community to read the news, its online reach now extends to a diverse readership across Malaysia. 

Chinese Embassy in Germany

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The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Germany is China’s chief diplomatic mission to Germany. The mission was established on October 11, 1972, following the normalization of diplomatic relations between the People’s Republic of China and the Federal Republic of Germany. The embassy issued a sharp rebuke to the German authorities in April 2024 after three German nationals were arrested on suspicion of spying for China on the embassy’s behalf, and transferring information on technology with potential military uses. “We call on Germany to desist from exploiting the espionage accusation to politically manipulate the image of China and defame China,” a spokesperson for the embassy said in an e-mailed response to the Reuters news agency. Several years earlier, in October 2021, the embassy courted controversy by disinviting two German journalists from a scheduled public talk at a Confucius Institute in Germany about their biography of Xi Jinping. The order to stop the event reportedly came from the Chinese consul general in Düsseldorf. ccording to news reports, a staff member at the Confucius Institute had told the canceled journalists that “you cannot talk about Xi Jinping as a normal person; he is supposed to be untouchable and unmentionable now.”