Today is a public holiday in South Africa – Human Rights Day. There’s a certain irony in spending the day focusing on China’s President Xi Jinping’s visit to Vladimir Putin, knee-deep in a human rights disaster.
What one makes of the Ukraine crisis increasingly maps on where one lives. This is made clear by a remarkable new set of polling data recently published by the European Council on Foreign Relations ...
Category: Propaganda
China Leverages African Media Outlets to Hit Back on Debt
Emerging Chinese government messaging on debt is now showing up in African publications via state-owned media outlets like Xinhua. This comes as Beijing is increasingly focusing on the role of Western lenders in Global South debt distress. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? China ...
Mechanisms for ‘Telling Chinese Stories Well’: Chinese Influence on Foreign Media
By James Sundquist The “Rise of China” is one of the great stories of this century. But how is this story told? Is the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) about South-South cooperation or debt-trap diplomacy? How much attention should be paid ...
It’s the West’s Fault, Not Russia’s There Are Food Shortages in Africa, According to Chinese State Media
Chinese state media is promoting the narrative that the worsening food crisis in Africa is due to Western sanctions against Russia rather than because Moscow invaded a sovereign country. CGTN published a short clip on Tuesday of an ...
China’s Discourse Power in Africa and the Global South
China, like all major governments, uses a variety of tools and methods to influence international public opinion. Some, like CGTN, China Daily, and China Radio International, serve as conventional propaganda that is easy to identify; other tactics are far more subtle ...
Israel’s Shakshuka Diplomacy in China
China’s efforts to promote itself to foreign audiences frequently take the form of stiffly-produced TV inserts on traditional cuisine and historical festivals. But China isn’t alone in this game - sometimes, it goes the other way. Behold the awkward glory of ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Xi Bets on Global South in Moscow
Concealed Chinese Propaganda in Nigeria Aims to Change Negative Media Narrative on Shanghai Lockdowns
Shanghai's controversial methods in trying to contain the spread of Omicron have sparked widespread negative media coverage in China and around the world. Now it appears that Chinese propaganda authorities are trying to change that perception by providing broadcasters in places ...
New Articles Promote”Chinese Democracy” to African Readers
Two new articles promoting the idea that the Chinese system represents an alternative form of democracy from that promoted by Western countries have appeared in the South African and Nigerian press this week. While they were apparently written by African journalists, they follow Chinese state talking points ...
How China Uses Media to Try and Influence Foreign Audiences
Readers of African newspapers may have spotted articles that seemingly come off as a little too effusive about China. A fascinating new article by the China Media Project at the University of Hong Kong reveals why that may be the case and how Chinese authorities ...
Xinhua Joins the Fight Over Allegations of Labor and Environmental Abuses by Chinese Companies in Zimbabwe
China's state-run news agency Xinhua pushed back against a January 7th report in The Guardian (UK) newspaper that claimed the Chinese-owned Jinding mining company is requiring 50 families in rural Zimbabwe to move so as to make way for a granite polishing plant.
It’s Becoming Increasingly Difficult For African News Consumers to Figure Out What’s Legitimate News About China and What’s Propaganda
A column published on one of Ghana's largest news portals, Ghanaweb, on Sunday highlights the difficulties confronting readers in determining what is legitimate editorial content and what is state-produced propaganda. Last week, the official Ghana News Agency published ...