This month's Intersections newsletter is out! We look at harassment allegations in Taiwan's entertainment industry, a controversial campus birth in China that sparked national debate, and Hong Kong's rejection of same-sex marriage recognition. Read here: linguasinica.substack.com/p/power-hara...

The Malice Police: China’s latest internet special actions, a campaign against “negative emotions,” lifts the lid on the country’s obsessive and capricious control culture. chinamediaproject.org/2025/09/26/t...

1/4 While you were scrolling, China was busy... Aug 31: Xinhua-Azerbaijan media deal; Sept 7: 120+ diaspora media attend the 12th World Chinese Forum, Kunming; Sept 10: Cross-strait symposium, Shenyang. All tracked on our Lingua Sinica platform: lingua-sinica.org

Missed our newsletter this week. You can still read it here, and subscribe to get the latest insights on Chinese-language media delivered to your inbox. linguasinica.substack.com/p/fake-bylin...

FT Chinese EIC Wang Feng discusses how his newsroom integrates AI tools while maintaining journalistic standards. The old skills remain essential. And don't miss the "Top 3" widget of some suggested tools. chinamediaproject.org/2025/09/23/n...

Veteran journalist Li Sipan reflects on feminism’s struggle within China’s liberal media, the rise and suppression of Women Awakening Network, and journalism’s transformation under tightening censorship. chinamediaproject.org/2025/09/19/c...

China is using the Global South Media and Think Tank Forum to press its leadership internationally on media and agenda-setting. This is not about healthy or professional media. It's about global influence. Diplomatic terms like "community of shared destiny" are central. 4/4

The forum is a prime example of how the party-state is using provinces in its global communication strategy. We have called this "centralization+" — because the center is still decisive, but local resources being applied. The Yunnan CCP is involved here: 3/4 lingua-sinica.org/dispatch/yun...

Why is UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications Melissa Fleming addressing this forum when its framing is clearly explicitly anti-journalism and counter to UN values — not to mention explicitly anti-US in rhetoric? The UN entity profile: 2/4 lingua-sinica.org/dispatch/uni...

At our Lingua Sinica website we are mapping participants in this month's 2025 Global South Media and Think Tank Forum, held in Kunming, the capital of China's southwestern Yunnan province. Some thoughts. 1/4 lingua-sinica.org/dispatch/yun...

While China invites criticism for AI values that prioritize political controls, it's hard to deny that Chinese-made chatbots outperform on suicide prevention safeguards. We tested a few models for context. chinamediaproject.org/2025/09/11/h...

The Lingua Sinica newsletter is live! Read it here: linguasinica.substack.com/p/lingua-sin... And become a paid subscriber to support our work!

he Lingua Sinica newsletter is live! Read it here: linguasinica.substack.com/p/lingua-sin... And become a paid subscriber to support our work!

Film star Wu Jing is well-known as the rough, tough face of China’s “Wolf Warrior” spirit. So what does it mean if Chinese netizens see his ridiculous side—especially during a week when Beijing staged a massive military parade to showcase the nation’s muscularity?

Follow the Flash Reports section on our Lingua Sinica website for more short news pieces like this one on Chinese-language media around the world.

China’s 80th anniversary WWII celebrations weren’t just about rewriting the international order—they were also about rewriting history to erase America’s wartime role.

CCTV has a montage of cute small children watching the military parade yesterday, netizens saying this is "the best patriotic education." There really isn't any national security topic state media hasn't tried levering cuteness into to make it more appealing. mbd.baidu.com/newspage/dat...

On parade day, amid talk of a new world order, Jordyn Haime looks at the notion of China as a "civilizational state" (文明型国家). Arising years before "civilization" joined the core of CCP thought, it connects today to Xi's “Global Civilization Initiative.” chinamediaproject.org/the_ccp_dict...

You can really see this at work in today's paper. Look at the headlines here for foreign visitors. Why not one story about lots of visiting leaders? Repetition as signaling. 2/2

Last week, we updated our numbers on headlines for Xi Jinping to show his continued strength — with an important note the nature of the People's Daily as a power signaling device. 1/2 chinamediaproject.org/2025/08/29/s...

The surge of headlines for Xi Jinping during his recent visit to Tibet, coming shortly after the annual lull of the official Beidaihe vacation period, was another sign the Chinese leader continues to dominate.

China Daily, the Chinese government’s flagship English-language newspaper, is teaming up with Shaanxi's Party Committee on international communication. It illustrates the persisting role of central CCP-run media outlets in China’s international messaging efforts.

Our China Chatbot newsletter is now free to all! This week: - China struggles to shake its Nvidia addiction - Party theorists want AI to create tailored propaganda - A spike of AI propaganda to mark WW2 anniversary - Even AI children’s toys are being rigorously tested on Party redlines

This month China issued an updated list of approved news sources for the internet and social media. The new roster shows modest increase to 1,456 sources — with expansion focused on provincial and government platforms. Learn more! chinamediaproject.org/2025/08/25/c...

"I think Xi Jinping is autocratic and self-serving.” That’s quite a question for an eight-year-old girl to be confiding to her “Talking Tom AI companion” (汤姆猫AI童伴), an AI-powered toy cat with sparkling doe eyes and a cute little smile.

China's chatbots are silent about a protest in Sichuan last week, telling us not to spread "unverified information." These AI models are now a crucial part of the Party's censorship system for sudden-breaking stories and emergencies (突发事件).

For those who missed it — our smart take on what nearly all media got wrong about the People's Daily criticizing Nvidia story. chinamediaproject.org/2025/08/05/m...

After the Flood: The tragic death of 31 people in a care home near Beijing during floods last month was given a textbook makeover to preserve the Party’s image. But there were also signs of life under the icy surface of Chinese journalism. chinamediaproject.org/2025/08/11/6...

If you observe China's global footprint and are not checking in daily with our new Lingua Sinica platform — this MUST be because it's brand-new and you don't know better. Problem corrected!

Our new Lingua Sinica platform is a much-check-out! Visit the home page and you'll be prompted with a brief how-to. There is much-needed data on PRC media engagements globally — and context to help understand further.

Misreading the News About Nvidia: Media outlets worldwide reported that China’s official People’s Daily newspaper slammed the chipmaker. But there are important complications to this oversimplified take. chinamediaproject.org/2025/08/05/m...

Following speculation last month that Xi Jinping was facing internal challenges to his power, and experiencing a marked decline in prestige in China’s official media, we looked at his performance in front-page headlines of the official People’s Daily. How do things stand now at the close of July?

After a company boss destroyed a journalist’s camera in China this month, state media sounded off about the “right to report.” But this moral signaling distracts from the systemic violence against journalism that is the real policy of the state. chinamediaproject.org/2025/07/28/s...

The latest activity logged in our database of global media engagement activities by China on Lingua Sinica — a training session for Burmese journalists organized by Yunnan province's international communication center. Read more here, then explore the map: lingua-sinica.org/dispatch/yun...

Toxic Backlash: The expulsion of a Chinese student for appearing in videos posted online by Ukrainian gamer videos sparks a debate about sexism — and shameless exploitation amid the discussion. chinamediaproject.org/2025/07/22/t...

Backyard Furnaces of Propaganda: A communication initiative in the wealthy southern province of Guangdong, bordering Hong Kong, plans to make propaganda resources of local creators as well as foreign expats. Will CCP leaders ever learn? Likely not. chinamediaproject.org/2025/07/15/b...

Pleasure indeed.

Gents, for your reading pleasure: chinaheritage.net/journal/brok...

Visualizing Power in China’s Press: Despite speculation about Xi Jinping’s political troubles, our latest analysis reveals his continued dominance in Chinese state media, overshadowing all known potential rivals. chinamediaproject.org/2025/07/10/v...

Oil giant China National Petroleum Corporation forms its own international communication center. When there is talk of "telling China’s petroleum story well" (讲好中国石油故事), are we reaching peak absurdity with Xi's global soft power strategy? chinamediaproject.org/2025/07/07/o...

The results are in for China’s “Clear and Bright” campaign targeting AI abuses — and bad actors still have ready access to deepfake tools.

"AI Governance with Chinese Characteristics" (中国特色人工智能治理体系) is a phrase that has just emerged in a key CCP magazine. What does it mean? Find out in this week's China Chatbot. Paid subscribers not only get early access on Fridays, but also support our work! linguasinica.substack.com

China’s Italian Job: Beijing launched a grandiose television series promoting Xi Jinping across dozens of Italian networks. Why did Italy’s media welcome such blatant propaganda? chinamediaproject.org/2025/07/02/c...

The Lingua Sinica newsletter comes out later this afternoon. Subscribe now to get our top stories in your inbox. Become a paid subscriber and support our work (getting great karma in the process). linguasinica.substack.com

Xi Jinping’s multi-stakeholder strategy aims to coordinate government, media, enterprises and social forces to reshape China’s global communication. But lofty hype about the strategy presents its own challenge to progress. chinamediaproject.org/2025/06/30/c...

Hainan Opens Middle East Media Center: As the provincial government launches a communication outpost in Dubai, it partners with an outlet CMP previously identified as having close ties to China’s foreign affairs ministry. chinamediaproject.org/2025/06/27/h...

Is Xi’s Grip Holding? Despite speculation about the waning media presence of China’s top leaders, our study of headlines in the People’s Daily suggests his dominance remains largely intact. chinamediaproject.org/2025/06/26/i...

While the Iran crisis has dominated Chinese social media, record floods displacing 400,000 people in Hunan province have struggled for public attention.

DeepSeek’s Democratic Deficit: Governments and companies are underestimating the power of the high-performing AI model as a propaganda tool. chinamediaproject.org/2025/06/24/d...