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Archives: Dispatches

All Lingua Sinica Dispatches

Sin Chew Daily

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Sin Chew Daily, founded on January 15, 1929, claims to be Malaysia’s ” leading Chinese-language newspaper with a mission to preserve Chinese culture”. The paper suspended publication twice: 1942-1945 during Japanese occupation and 1987 when Malaysia revoked its license. Chairman Tiong Hiew King (張曉卿) secured its resumption on April 8, 1988. Headquartered in Petaling Jaya, Sin Chew Daily is now part of Media Chinese International Limited following a 2007 merger with Hong Kong’s Ming Pao Group. The company operates over 30 Chinese publications, including Ming Pao, Guang Ming Daily, and Asia Weekly. With 350,000 circulation (including digital) reaching 1.5 million daily readers, it’s Southeast Asia’s highest-circulation Chinese newspaper and the largest outside China. The paper has embraced digital transformation since 2000, celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2019 with integrated multimedia platforms.

National Research Council of Thailand

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The National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT), was established in 1956, with its administrative functions institutionalized in 1959 through the National Research Council Act. Originally functioning as a government organization equivalent to a department under the Prime Minister’s direct command, NRCT served as the main national agency responsible for research policy and promotion across natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Following Thailand’s research system reform, NRCT was transformed on May 2, 2019 into the primary national funding agency under the newly established Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESRI). The organization now operates as the central body for research funding, national research standards, and knowledge transfer, with headquarters located at 196 Phaholyothin Road, Chatuchak, Bangkok.

Propaganda Office of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the CCP

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The Propaganda Office of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (中共湖南省委宣傳部) serves as the chief office responsible for communicating the agendas of the provincial party leadership and overseeing state-run media in Hunan Province, including the mouthpiece newspaper Hunan Daily (湖南日報). It coordinates party ideological work throughout the province while simultaneously operating under multiple official names, allowing it to exercise comprehensive control over news, publishing, and cultural production. The department functions as the central enforcer of the party’s media discipline, ensuring all local outlets maintain proper political orientation in line with central and provincial-level directives.

Propaganda Office of the Wenzhou Committee of the CCP

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The Propaganda Office of the Wenzhou Municipal Committee is the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda office for Wenzhou city in Zhejiang province. It is responsible for overall control of media and information in the city, and directly oversees leading CCP-controlled media outlets, including Wenzhou Daily (溫州日報).

ATN

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ATN Bangla is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite television channel that launched on 15 July 1997, making it Bangladesh’s first privately-owned television channel and the first to broadcast via satellite. Founded by Dr. Mahfuzur Rahman, the channel is owned by Multimedia Production Company and broadcasts from Dhaka’s Kawran Bazar neighborhood. ATN Bangla became the first Bengali-language television channel in the world to broadcast worldwide. The channel gained international recognition when it won the International Children’s Day of Broadcasting Award at the 32nd International Emmy Awards on 22 November 2004 for its documentary “Amrao Pari” (We Too Can), which was shot and directed by eighteen Bangladeshi teenagers and focused on the story of Abul Khaer, a 9-year-old boy who stopped a passenger train from approaching a disjointed rail track.

Chinese and Russian Media Expand Cooperation Plans for 2026

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The 18th meeting of the Media Cooperation Subcommission under the China-Russia Humanitarian Cooperation Committee (中俄人文合作委员会) convened virtually on October 20, 2025, with more than 40 representatives from both nations. News of the meeting was first reported by Rossiyskaya Gazeta (俄罗斯报) a newspaper published by the Russian government. The session was co-chaired by Dong Xin (董昕), the vice director of China’s National Radio and Television Administration (国家广播电视总局), or NRTA, a ministry-level agency under the CCP’s Central Propaganda Department that oversees radio and television enterprises, and by Bella Cherkesova, Russia’s Deputy Minister of Digital Development. Chinese participants included representatives from the Central Propaganda Department, People’s Daily (人民日报), Xinhua News Agency (新华社), and China Media Group (中央广播电视总台). Russian attendees represented the Foreign Ministry, TASS (塔斯社), a Russian government news agency, and Russia Today (RT), Russia’s state-controlled international news television network. The meeting approved plans for more than 70 joint media projects.

All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company

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The All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (全俄国家电视广播公司), or VGTRK, is Russia’s largest state-owned media corporation, founded in 1990 and headquartered in Moscow. The broadcaster operates five national television channels, including Rossiya 1 and the 24-hour news channel Rossiya 24, along with six radio stations and 89 regional networks broadcasting in 54 languages across Russia. VGTRK also runs the international channel RTR Planeta, which reaches audiences in the United States, Europe, and China. During Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the broadcaster has been accused of spreading propaganda and disinformation. Unlike RT, VGTRK primarily targets domestic Russian audiences. The European Union sanctioned the company in July 2022, and YouTube blocked its channels in 2022 and 2024.

Russian Embassy in China

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The Russian Embassy in China (俄羅斯駐華大使館) is the diplomatic mission of the Russian Federation in Beijing, representing Russian interests and maintaining bilateral relations between Russia and China. The embassy facilitates political dialogue, consular services, trade relations, and cultural exchanges between the two nations. Russia maintains additional consulates general in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenyang, and Hong Kong to serve its citizens and promote cooperation across multiple regions of China. The embassy plays a central role in coordinating high-level visits, implementing bilateral agreements, and supporting various cooperation mechanisms between Moscow and Beijing. It also provides visa services, assists Russian citizens abroad, and promotes Russian culture and education in China through various programs and initiatives.

SMG Co-hosts 2024 ENEX General Assembly

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The 31st ENEX General Assembly convened in Shanghai on September 26, 2024, co-hosted by the European News Exchange (ENEX) and the Shanghai Media Group (上海廣播電視台), or SMG, and organized by SMG International (上海文廣國際傳播中心). SMG International is Shanghai’s local international communication center (國際傳播中心), or ICC, part of Xi Jinping’s push to bring regional media groups into the larger project of national propaganda directed overseas. According to Chinese media, more than 70 delegates from 17 countries and regions gathered for the ENEX General Assembly to discuss the future of media development and transnational cooperation. In his opening remarks, the President of SMG said that global media need more cooperation and that they must “share factual news” (我们需要共享新闻事实) and “jointly capture objective and truthful international news” (共同捕捉客观真实的国际新闻). Far from calls to professionalism, as they might seem, these remarks reference the official view of China’s leadership, which holds that global public opinion is imbalanced against China — and that this state of affairs requires corrective measures. According to ENEX, the discussions centered on challenges facing the media sector, particularly the expanding impact of artificial intelligence and the complexities of covering international conflicts. SMG states that its mission is to build “the best practice ground for ‘Xi Jinping Thought on Culture’” — a reference to the media-related aspects of the CCP leader’s central political ideology — while also “disseminating public opinion and culture.”