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All Lingua Sinica Dispatches

China News Service Hosts 12th World Chinese Media Forum

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The 12th World Chinese Media Forum (第十二屆世界華文傳媒論壇) opened on September 7, 2025, in Kunming, Yunnan Province, bringing together representatives from over 120 Chinese-language media outlets from more than 50 countries and regions across five continents. Attendees included Huang Huanming (黃煥明), president of Jian Hua Daily (柬華日報), and a representative from Cambodia China Times (柬中時報). The forum was hosted by China News Service (中國新聞社). Chen Xu (陳旭), deputy minister of the United Front Work Department (UFWD) and director of the State Council Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, attended the opening ceremony alongside Li Baojun (李保俊), Yunnan Provincial Committee Standing Committee member and head of the provincial division of the UFWD. The World Chinese Media Forum, described by official state media as playing a key role in “global Chinese media cooperation and consensus-building,” is a key vehicle for the CCP to exercise influence over media in diaspora communities.

Overseas Chinese Affairs Office

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The Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council (國務院僑務辦公室), or OCAO, is an agency responsible for managing and implementing the government’s policies and strategies toward overseas Chinese communities globally. Since March 2018, it functions as the principal international face of the United Front Work Department (UFWD) of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, though it maintains its original name when conducting public business. The office was established in 1978. In March 2018, as part of deepening institutional reforms, the OCAO was merged into the UFWD, maintaining its distinct name under a practice known in China as “one institution with two names” (一個機構兩塊牌子). The office operates eight functional departments including the Secretariat Administrative Division, Policy and Legal Affairs Division, Domestic Affairs Division, and Foreign Affairs Division covering different regional portfolios. Following the 2018 reorganization, OCAO’s functions were distributed across multiple UFWD bureaus, with particular emphasis on coordinating overseas Chinese communities and cultural exchanges through educational and media initiatives.

Yunnan Hosts 2025 Global South Media Forum

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China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency, the Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and the Yunnan government jointly hosted the 2025 Global South Media and Think Tank Forum in Kunming, Yunnan Province from September 6-10, gathering 500 journalists, scholars, government officials and entrepreneurs from more than 260 media outlets across 110 countries. Making the broader diplomatic objectives of the forum clear, Hu Heping (胡和平), a deputy director of the CCP’s Central Propaganda Department, told attendees that China’s Global Governance Initiative (GCI) provides “important guidance” for reforming global governance systems—an agenda China has pushed strongly to carve out a more central role for itself and Russia with talk of more “democratic” (i.e., less US-centric) decision-making. Invoking a key foreign policy principle of Xi Jinping and the central leadership, Xinhua president Fu Hua (傅华) suggested the forum and ongoing cooperation would help build “a community with a shared future for humanity.” Key participants included Khamphan Pheuyavong from Laos’ ruling People’s Revolutionary Party and UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications Melissa Fleming, who addressed the forum via video calling for enhanced global sustainability and cultural exchanges. Fleming, herself an experienced journalist appointed to her post in 2019, was quoted in official Chinese sources as calling for participants to “restore balance to the global information ecosystem,” a notion that perhaps was intended to signal the need for real inclusiveness, but that in context bolstered China’s efforts to sideline ideas about journalistic and media freedom. Under Xi, China has promoted the idea of “journalism with Chinese characteristics” (中国特色新闻学), with the aim of “transcending the journalism discourse hegemony constructed by the West” (超越西方构建起的新闻话语霸权). The talk of global cooperation on information issues came alongside clear framing of the United States as a destructive player engaging in “cognitive warfare” and “ideological colonization” against Global South nations. The forum promoted cooperation among Global South media and was set to release two signature documents: the Yunnan Consensus pledging expanded cooperative news production, and a research report on China’s contribution to global public intellectual products distilling best practices from South-South initiatives.

United Nations Department of Global Communications

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The United Nations Department of Global Communications serves as the organization’s storytelling arm, operating across 60 countries to communicate the UN’s mission through multiple platforms and traditional media. The department says that it reaches millions globally with trusted, objective information that promotes understanding of UN work among the public, civil society, private sector, and member states. Embodying the UN’s multilingual principles, it communicates in more than 80 languages to extend impact worldwide. Through what it calls “inclusive messaging and comprehensive outreach,” the department claims to build support for UN aims while enabling “different actors to take concerted action across the global community to make a positive difference in people’s lives and for the planet.”

Yunnan Provincial Committee of the CCP

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The Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (中共雲南省委) is the chief leadership body at the provincial level in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan, bordering Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. The committee oversees functional offices including Organization (meaning CCP appointments), propaganda (media and ideological control), and “united front work” (coordination of activities for global and non-Party influence), alongside specialized offices for cyberspace affairs, foreign affairs, and deepening reform. It directly manages key institutions like Yunnan Party School, the Yunnan Daily Newspaper Group (雲南日報報業集團), and the Yunnan Institute of Socialism, maintaining comprehensive control over political, media, and educational activities across this strategically important border province.

Senate of the Republic of Mexico

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The Senate of the Republic (Senado de la República) serves as the upper house of Mexico’s bicameral Congress. The Senate was established through the Constitution of 1824, which provided that the Legislative Power would be vested in a General Congress composed of two Chambers. It was abolished by the Constitution of 1857, which established a unicameral legislature, and re-established on November 13, 1874. The Senate currently consists of 128 senators who serve six-year terms with the possibility of one consecutive reelection. Senators are elected through a mixed system: 64 by direct vote (two from each state and Mexico City), 32 assigned to the first minorities (one per state), and 32 by proportional representation. The Senate holds constitutional authority to ratify international treaties, approve presidential appointments, and serve as a check on executive power.

Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations

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The Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations (中華人民共和國常駐聯合國代表團) serves as the official delegation of the People’s Republic of China to the UN, primarily functioning through China’s permanent membership on the Security Council. The People’s Republic of China joined the United Nations on October 25, 1971, when UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 recognized the People’s Republic of China as “the only legitimate representative of China to the United Nations,” replacing the Republic of China (ROC), located then in Taiwan, which had held the seat since the UN’s founding in 1945.

Euractiv

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Euractiv is a European news website focused on EU policies, founded in 1999 by French media publisher Christophe Leclercq and headquartered in Brussels. The outlet, which was acquired by Belgian media company Mediahuis in 2023, covers European politics and policy across eight specialized hubs including energy, agriculture, and technology. According to the outlet, it employs about 50 journalists across multiple European countries and produces content in 11 languages. Euractiv describes itself as covering “policy processes upstream of decisions” without taking sides, though it faced controversy in January 2025 when its editor-in-chief published an opinion piece on Holocaust Memorial Day that Amnesty International condemned as hate speech against Muslim communities. The outlet has also entered into paid arrangements with the Chinese government, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), for content reflecting Chinese state narratives.

Chinese Embassy in Malaysia

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The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Malaysia is China’s chief diplomatic mission to Malaysia, located in Kuala Lumpur. The mission’s origins trace to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the People’s Republic of China and Malaysia on May 31, 1974, when Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak led a historic visit to China and signed a joint communiqué with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. This momentous event marked Malaysia as the first ASEAN nation to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, breaking new ground during the height of the Cold War. The embassy is currently located at 229, Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The current ambassador is Ouyang Yujing (欧阳玉靖), who arrived in Malaysia in December 2020 and has served as China’s 16th Ambassador.