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Archives: Dispatches

All Lingua Sinica Dispatches

Zhiyuan Innovation Technology

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Zhiyuan Innovation (Shanghai) Technology Co., Ltd. (智元創新上海 科技有限公司), is a robotics manufacturing company based in China. Founded in February 2023, the company is located in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai. The company focuses on creating humanoid robots, service robots, commercial cleaning robots, and robotic dexterous hands, primarily serving the electronic equipment manufacturing industries. The company also develops AI-powered hardware and software for computers, communications, and electronic devices. Since March 2023, Zhiyuan Innovation’s investors include tech giant Tencent, Chinese automaker BYD, and venture capital firms Sequoia Capital China and Matrix Partners China.

Dankook University

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Dankook University (단국대학교), or DKU, is a private research university in South Korea founded in November 1947, with campuses in Yongin (about 40 kilometers south of Seoul) and Cheonan (about 90 kilometers south of Seoul). The university hosts more than 30,000 students and employs approximately 2,700 faculty members across 20 undergraduate colleges and 10 professional graduate schools. The university is recognized by the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange, an institution under China’s Ministry of Education, which ensures degree recognition for Chinese graduates. While no official framework for cooperation with China was found, Dankook University maintains engagement with Chinese institutions through participation in bilateral forums. In October 2025, Professor Kim Jin-ho from the College of Social Sciences participated in the 2025 China-South Korea Media Cooperation Forum held in Seoul under the theme “China-South Korea Cooperation for an Intelligent Future.”

Chinese Embassy in South Korea

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The Chinese Embassy in South Korea is the diplomatic mission of the People’s Republic of China in Seoul. Established in August 1992, it represented a notable development in post-Cold War diplomacy as South Korea normalized relations with China while maintaining its alliance with the United States. The embassy has frequently engaged in typical sharp-tongued diplomatic practices on key territorial and security interests, including issuing statements against South Korean officials’ visits to Taiwan and pressuring South Korean universities and cultural institutions on matters related to Tibet,

NewsVoice Launches Partnership with China Daily

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On April 10, 2025, the Swedish website NewsVoice announced the signing of a news-sharing agreement with China Daily (中國日報) that allowed NewsVoice to translate and publish articles from the Chinese government-run outlet on its website. According to a letter on the deal published by China Daily and bearing the byline of NewsVoice founder and editor-in-chief Torbjörn Sassersson, the partnership provides “insight into China’s thinking, philosophy, and political perspective.” Sassersson added that the partnership would enable his website to “become a player in media diplomacy using journalism to build bridges between countries and peoples”—language that closely mirrors Chinese state media rhetoric surrounding media cooperation agreements. Torbjörn Sassersson is a Swedish freelance journalist and communications consultant who has worked in environmental consulting, bioenergy, and corporate communications since the 1990s. He founded NewsVoice.se in 2011, a bilingual news and — says Sassersson — debate platform. As Sassersson explains in a bio on the NewsVoice website, he shifted focus in 2023 to covering the multipolar world, BRICS, and China’s Belt and Road Initiative after receiving an invitation from the Chinese embassy to visit Shanghai. In June 2025, Sassersson interviewed Cui Anmin, China’s ambassador to Sweden, on Sweden-China relations for NewsVoice.

China and Uganda Launch Audiovisual Initiative

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The Beijing Municipal Radio and Television Bureau (北京市廣播電視局), under the local city leadership of the CCP, and Uganda’s Vision Group jointly hosted the “Love Beijing Night” cultural exchange event in Kampala on June 27, 2025. Also launched at the event was a new program for the distribution of Chinese television dramas called “2025 ‘LOVE Beijing’ Audiovisual Arts International Communication Initiative Africa” (2025年’LOVE北京’視聽文藝國際傳播行動·非洲). Under the terms of the project, Vision Group will broadcast a series of Chinese television dramas, including Six Sisters (六姊妹), a family drama, alongside TV shows such as Minning Town (山海情), a series about a community in China’s arid northwest that promotes the Party’s anti-poverty campaign. Chinese state media reported that the programming aimed to “deepen China-Africa audiovisual cooperation” (深化中非視聽合作). The initiative also established dedicated audiovisual content zones on the African mobile app Scooper News, featuring an English-language “Beijing Broadcasting Service Package” that runs documentaries and short videos. Vision Group CEO said that  the programming would “open a window for Ugandan audiences to see China,” while Chinese officials emphasized the shows demonstrate Chinese “family and national sentiments” to African viewers.

Scooper News

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Scooper News is a news and entertainment mobile app launched in 2019 by Chinese smartphone manufacturer Transsion Holdings (深圳傳音控股股份有限公司). The platform aggregates trending news, videos, and entertainment content tailored for users in Africa, featuring personalized news feeds from all around the world. Scooper integrates Chinese state media content, with China Daily (中國日報) having a cooperation agreement to deliver Chinese domestic news to Africa through the platform. The official Xinhua News Agency reported in September 2025 that its Scooper account had “achieved 31 million hits in six months” in 2023. According to company statements, Scooper News reached more than 3.8 million downloads at launch. It now reports more than 50 million monthly active users across Africa.

Uganda Communications Commission

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The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) is a regulatory body for telecommunications, broadcasting, and communications infrastructure established under the Uganda Communications Act No. 1 of 1997 and the Electronic Media Act of 1996. The commission oversees telecommunications, data communications, broadcasting, postal services, radio communications, and infrastructure services across Uganda, while also licensing cinemas and video libraries. As a government-owned statutory body, the UCC has ordered internet shutdowns and social media blocks during elections and requires licensing for online publishers. The body has been criticized for using its ostensibly regulatory role to conduct censorship through penalizations over broadcast standards and onerous registration requirements for online outlets.

The People’s Government of Beijing Municipality

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The People’s Government of Beijing Municipality (北京市人民政府) is the administrative arm of China’s capital city, subordinate to the Communist Party — with the mayor answering to the municipal party secretary. It comprises a mayor, vice mayors, a General Office, and more than 20 bureaus handling public security, judicial affairs, and civil, economic, social, and cultural matters. The government was founded on January 1, 1949, restructured as the Beijing Municipal Revolutionary Committee (北京市革命委員會) during the Cultural Revolution, and restored to its current form in 1979.

Uganda Broadcasting Corporation

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A wholly state-owned entity under the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance, the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) is the country’s national state broadcaster, tracing its origins to the Uganda Broadcasting Service first established in 1954 under British colonial rule. The modern corporation was established under the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation Act of 2005, under which the operations of Uganda Television and Radio Uganda were merged. UBC operates multiple television channels, alongside radio stations, newspapers, and regional services covering various Ugandan languages. UBC has closely engaged with Chinese state media entities, including the government-run China Daily, on media cooperation.