Skip to main content

Archives: Dispatches

All Lingua Sinica Dispatches

China and Zimbabwe Hold Film Promotion Event

Written by Editors on .

On August 8, 2018, the China-Africa Friendly Economic and Trade Development Foundation (中非友好經貿發展基金會) hosted a promotional event in Beijing for the film “When Africa Meets You” (非洲遇見你). The event took place in the context of heightened China-Africa relations, as President Xi Jinping had recently completed a four-country African tour in July 2018, visiting Senegal, Rwanda, South Africa, and Mauritius, ahead of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in September 2018. The film promotion featured participation from diplomats, including Zimbabwe’s Deputy Chief of Mission Mugabekuru Spencer Dube, representatives from over twenty Chinese state-owned enterprises, including CITIC Group and China Railway Construction Corporation, and former Chinese Ambassador to Guinea Zhao Lixing (趙立興). Emphasizing the films foreign relations value, producer Wan Minfang (宛敏芳) described the production as “the first comprehensive film shot in Zimbabwe,” which she expressly noted was “once called Europe’s backyard.” The film was released theatrically and, according to Chinese media, grossed $157,273 worldwide.

NAN and Xinhua Sign Information Partnership Agreement

Written by Editors on .

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) signed a memorandum of understanding with Xinhua News Agency (新華通訊社) in May 2019 to promote China’s Belt and Road Economic Information Partnership (BREIP) initiative. The West Africa Bureau Chief of Xinhua News Agency described the initiative as a “business arrangement to complement the efforts of member countries on the development strategy” related to the Belt and Road Initiative. BREIP was established by Xinhua News Agency in June 2019 as an information-sharing platform connecting news agencies, research institutions, and business associations from countries participating in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The partnership aims to facilitate economic information exchange and reduce “information deficit” between participating countries. NAN Managing Director and its Editor-in-Chief expressed support for the initiative, with Onanuga stating it would “protect the interests of countries along the Belt and Road initiative.”

Federal Government of Nigeria

Written by Editors on .

The Federal Government of Nigeria operates as a federal republic established in 1960, with power shared between federal, state, and local levels. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu currently leads the executive branch, while the National Assembly comprises the Senate and House of Representatives, focusing on economic development, security, and infrastructure priorities.

Guangdong Xiexun Technology Co. Ltd.

Written by Editors on .

Guangdong Xiexun Technology Co. Ltd. was established in 2017 with a registered capital of 10 million yuan. The company describes itself as focused on “internet product development for Southeast Asian countries,” and claims to customize internet products based on “changing market demands” in Southeast Asia. It is unclear whether the company has any connections to official government entities in the PRC, though its TNAOT Cambodian news app largely features content from Chinese state-run media, including the People’s Daily, and strongly promotes the Belt and Road Initiative.

Propaganda Office of the Ningxia Committee of the Chinese Communist Party

Written by Editors on .

The Propaganda Office of the Ningxia Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (中共寧夏回族自治區委員會宣傳部) serves as the chief office responsible for communicating the agendas of the regional party leadership and overseeing state-run media throughout Ningxia, including direct supervision of the Ningxia Daily Media Group (寧夏日報報業集團) and other regional outlets. The office coordinates party ideological work across the autonomous region, exercising comprehensive control over news, publishing, and cultural production within Ningxia’s borders. It enforces the party’s media discipline, ensuring all local outlets maintain proper political orientation and implement public opinion guidance (輿論導向). The office maintains direct administrative authority over major media conglomerates in the region and oversees ideological compliance across newspapers, broadcasting, and digital platforms.

Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture

Written by Editors on .

The Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture (وزارت اطلاعات و فرهنگ) is a government ministry established to oversee culture, tourism, publishing affairs, and youth programs, headquartered in Kabul. The ministry claims responsibility for cultural preservation, media oversight, and youth development across Afghanistan. Prior to the Taliban’s seizure of control on August 15, 2021, the organization had been led by various ministers including Sayed Makhdoom Raheen, who served multiple terms between 2001 and 2015 and founded the Association for Peace and Democracy for Afghanistan, and Abdul Bari Jahani, a former Voice of America broadcaster who wrote the lyrics to Afghanistan’s national anthem. The ministry is currently headed by Khairullah Khairkhwa, who previously served in the same role during the Taliban’s earlier governance period from 1996 to 2001.

Belt and Road Documentary Launches in Kabul

Written by Editors on .

On December 5, 2017, Kabul News TV launched the five-episode documentary “The Belt and Road Story of China and Afghanistan” (中國與阿富汗”一帶一路”故事) at a ceremony in Kabul. The documentary features interviews with officials from China and Afghanistan, focusing on exchanges under China’s Belt and Road Initiative. More than 30 attendees included Zhang Zhixin (張志新), Chargé d’Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Afghanistan, Deputy Minister of Information and Culture Sayada Muzagan Mustafavi, and Kabul News TV CEO Ghulam Gilani Zawak. Zhang praised the documentary’s “clear theme and rich content,” stating that it reflects developing bilateral relations in culture and trade with “positive significance for enhancing people-to-people understanding.” “People-to-people” exchange refers in the discourse of the Chinese Communist Party to efforts to enhance ties and press agendas through interactions below the state level — though these exchanges consistently involve state-backed entities, including government-run NGOS, on the China side. Mustafavi said the documentary was “broadcast at the right time to meet the needs of cultural exchange,” helping “more Afghans understand and love China.” Kabul News TV, established in 2011, produces programming in Dari and Pashto and previously imported the 100-episode documentary “Hello, China” in 2015, providing “a window for the Afghan public to understand China.”

Kabul News TV

Written by Editors on .

Kabul News TV was a Pashto-language television channel based in Afghanistan that operated for approximately one decade before halting operations in November 2022. The channel had broadcast “on a national level and beyond,” according to TOLOnews, which reported that economic challenges were the primary reason for its closure. Hafizullah Barakzai, head of the Council of Afghanistan’s Journalists, stated that “economic challenges” led to the channel’s collapse, reflecting broader difficulties facing Afghan media following the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021. The channel continues operations only through social media platforms. Its closure occurred amid Afghanistan’s media crisis, with the National Journalists Union reporting that approximately 280 media organizations halted operations in the year following the former government’s fall, leaving around 70 percent of journalists unemployed.

Yunnan Provincial Journalists Association

Written by Editors on .

The Yunnan Provincial Journalists Association (雲南省新聞工作者協會), also known as the Yunnan Journalists Association (雲南省記協), is a provincial chapter of China’s All-China Journalists Association (ACJA), established in 1956. The chapter was suspended during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), and resumed operations in 1980. Like its national counterpart, the provincial association plays a key role, in coordination with the provincial propaganda office, in controlling the activities of local journalists, including through the issuance of press cards and conducting training in the Marxist View of Journalism.