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Archives: Dispatches

All Lingua Sinica Dispatches

Middle East Broadcasting Center

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The Middle East Broadcasting Center, also known as MBC Group, is a state-controlled media company based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, serving the Middle East and North Africa region. While the company identifies itself as “the largest and leading private multimedia company in the Middle East North Africa region,” it is 54 percent owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), a sovereign wealth fund chaired by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The company operates over 13 free-to-air television channels and three radio stations across the region. MBC Group also runs Shahid, an Arabic streaming platform offering series, movies, live television channels, sports, and international content. The company operates MBC Studios for content production and MBC Academy, a training platform for media professionals launched in 2020.

Warner Bros Discovery

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Warner Bros. Discovery is an American media conglomerate formed on April 8, 2022, through the merger of AT&T’s WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc. The company operates the original Warner Bros. studios — founded April 4, 1923, by four brothers from the Warner family (Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack) — along with HBO, CNN, the Discovery Channel, and streaming services HBO Max and Discovery+. Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, the company’s Singapore-based subsidiary, has engaged in numerous co-productions with Chinese state media since at least 2012, including a series about Xinjiang co-produced with CGTN called “World’s Ultimate Frontier” (走進新疆), and the 2017 three-part documentary “China: Time of Xi” (中国:习近平时代), which China Media Group chief described as serving “external communication” goals for building “a Chinese discourse and narrative system.”

SMG International

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SMG International (上海文广國際傳播中心) is an international communication center established on October 23, 2023, by the Shanghai Media Group (上海廣播電視台/上海文廣集團), the state-owned media conglomerate operating under the oversight of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. The center’s mission is to position Shanghai as “the vanguard in shaping Chinese-style modernized urban civilization and international communication.” The center is apparently meant to function as the primary center for international propaganda emanating from the municipal-level financial center, presenting it as the exemplar of “Chinese-style modernization” to global audiences — this being a key propaganda concept introduced by Xi Jinping in early 2021. SMG International, which integrates resources from SMG’s television and radio operations, claims to maintain production capabilities in seven foreign languages through a network of five overseas correspondent bureaus. The center’s flagship product, ShanghaiEye (魔都眼), was launched on November 8, 2023, and operates as a 24-hour YouTube livestream, offering interviews, world news, and videos of foreign influencers visiting politically sensitive regions such as Xinjiang to counteract international allegations of human rights abuses. The center’s documentary productions have also included the three-part series “Chinese Puzzle: Learning Chinese in America,” which profiles Americans studying Chinese, framing language learning as a tool to eliminate biases and correct misunderstandings about China.

Bigwave Robotics

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Bigwave Robotics is a South Korean tech company founded in 2020 and based in Seoul that operates Marosol, a platform where businesses can rent robots for their needs and which the company calls “the nation’s most extensive robot database.” The platform uses AI to help companies find the right robots for their work by matching them with robot suppliers. Bigwave Robotics also built SOLlink, a tool that lets businesses control different brands of robots all in one industrial or work setting.

Global Times

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Global Times (環球時報) is a tabloid newspaper founded on January 13, 1993, under the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party. Under its previous editor-in-chief, Hu Xijin (胡錫進), who led the tabloid from 2005 until December 2021, the Global Times became known for its often inflammatory commentaries on global affairs, which The Guardian at the time of Hu’s exit referred to as an “endless stream of quotable insults and invective.” Hu’s departure in December 2021 came amid speculation that the central leadership sought to impose stronger “political guidance” (政治導向) on the publication. The outlet remains more bellicose and nationalistic in its tone than most other “mainstream” CCP media, and sometimes seems to have more latitude to serve this attack dog role. Originally styled as a weekly titled Global Digest (環球文萃), the Global Times was given its present name in 1997, gradually increasing frequency until it became a daily in 2006. In 2009, it officially launched its English-language website. In its 2012 “About Us” page, the newspaper claimed to have over 500 correspondents in more than 120 countries and a circulation exceeding 2.4 million copies per issue. 

Xiaohongshu

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Xiaohongshu (小紅書), also known as RedNote, is a Chinese social networking and e-commerce platform founded in 2013. Launched initially as an online shopping platform, it has evolved into something similar to Instagram, focusing on lifestyle content including fashion, beauty, and travel. The name is a tongue-in-cheek reference to Chinese leader Mao Zedong’s famous “Little Red Book,” or the Quotations of Chairman Mao (毛主席语录), which many Chinese carried during the Cultural Revolution period — suggesting the contemporary platform is an essential guide, in this case to shopping, that users must always consult. The app reported 300 million monthly active users worldwide by August 2025, nearly 80 percent of whom are women. In 2022, leaked documents published by China Digital Times revealed that Xiaohongshu’s content moderation teams censor posts about topics sensitive to the Chinese Communist Party, including derogatory nicknames for General Secretary Xi Jinping, labor strikes, and student suicides. In January 2025, Xiaohongshu experienced a significant influx of American users following TikTok’s week-long ban in the US.

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

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The Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (한국외국어대학교) is a private research university in Seoul, founded in April 1954 by Kim Heung-bae (金興培). The university currently teaches 45 foreign languages and includes programs in humanities, law, political science, social sciences, business, medical science, natural sciences, and engineering. Within its College of Social Sciences, the university offers Journalism and Mass Communication majors that include programs in Journalism and Media Studies, Advertising and Public Relations, and Television and Film. While no formal framework for cooperation with China was found, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies maintains engagement with Chinese institutions through participation in bilateral forums. In October 2025, Professor Park Han-jin from the College of Chinese Studies participated in the 2025 China-South Korea Media Cooperation Forum held in Seoul under the theme “China-South Korea Cooperation for an Intelligent Future.”

Lead Digital

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Lead Digital is the trade name for Shanghai Lingshu Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. (上海羚數智能科技有限公司), a Chinese industrial software company founded in April 2021, developing cloud-based manufacturing execution systems and production management platforms for manufacturers. The company helps clients in the automotive parts, electronics assembly, and equipment manufacturing sectors digitize production workflows and integrate factory-floor data systems.

Maekyung Media Group

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Maekyung Media Group (매경미디어그룹) is a South Korean media conglomerate founded on March 24, 1966. The same year, it launched its flagship publication, Maeil Business Newspaper. Today, the group’s publications include Maekyung Economy, a weekly business magazine that debuted in 1979, Maeil Business TV for live financial market coverage, and Maekyung.com as its primary business news portal. Pulse, an English-language news website by the group, targets international audiences. In 2010, the group transformed its 24-hour news channel into a general programming cable TV channel, adding entertainment and drama content to the mix. Most recently, the group launched Maekyung AX, an AI-based knowledge platform that combines the group’s content with artificial intelligence technology. The Maekyung Media Group has previously engaged with Chinese media and technology companies, including hosting the China Greater Bay Forum in Shenzhen in 2019.