#Newspaper

State-run CGTN faces sanctions from UK media regulator over coverage of Hong Kong protests

//Britain’s media regulator Tuesday found China’s English-language broadcaster CGTN in “serious failure of compliance” with UK impartiality laws during its coverage of last year’s Hong Kong protests.

//The most serious breaches are punished in Britain with fines and — in case of repeat or especially egregious violations — license suspensions.

//The five CGTN programmes cited by Ofcom were all aired during a seven month spell last year when Hong Kong was upended by huge and often violent pro-democracy protests.

//“Various news items on protests in Hong Kong were not duly impartial on a matter of major political controversy and a major matter relating to current public policy,” Ofcom said in a 61-page report.

//Ofcom said it has been in contact with CGTN about the programmes and now studying the channel’s defence of the case.

Full article: Hong Kong Free Press, (27-May)

#ChinesePropaganda #CGTN #HongKongProtest

#ChinesePropaganda
China Propaganda Machine Spreads to the US

It is found that massive amount of tweets and Facebook posts about the US protests circulating on the Internet were posted by social media accounts registered in China.

According to Dr. Shen Bo-yang (Puma), assistant professor of criminology in National Taipei University, as of May 31, 2020 Chinese has engendered over 70,000 said engagements in the social media world.

China's goal to defame protesters in all places has become obvious, as the chief editor of a China state-run tabloid Global Times Hu Xijin (@HuXijin_GT) tweeted the following on May 31:

"I highly suspect that Hong Kong rioters have infiltrated American states. Attacking police stations, smashing shops, blocking roads, breaking public facilities, these are all routine in their protests. Vicious HK rioters obviously are mastermind of violent protests across the US😡."

Despite China's attempt to influence international opinions from the coronavirus pandemic to the protests in the US, China has repeatedly reprimanded the international community for "meddling with China's internal affairs".

Source: Puma Shen; Stand News
#June2 #ChineseInfluence #America #SocialMedia #Twitter #Facebook

#OpinionArticle #LeeYee

This is China - Lee Yee

Lee Yee, a veteran journalist and commentator on politics in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, delves into the issue of a prevalent Chinese sentiment towards foreigners - one of mistrust and suspicion. With facts distorted or concealed by government propaganda and information censorship, a vast majority of Chinese citizens are often misguided and misinformed. This has led to an enslavement of the mind from which few are able to escape.

Full translation:
https://telegra.ph/This-is-China-06-02

#Nationalism #Coronavirus #Japan #ChinesePropaganda #US #Pandemic

Image source: Internet

#Newspaper

China's newspaper People’s Daily sings praises for IPCC report, saying it removes all injustice against Hong Kong police

(16 May) After 10 months of “investigation”, the Hong Kong Independent Police Complains Council (IPCC) released the overview for the anti-extradition law amendment bill (ELAB) protests yesterday (May 16th, 2020). People’s Daily, China’s official press, stated that the report “addressed every possible problem with equal importance”; “through strict scientific investigations, all possible suspicions of the police force are raised”. The article, which was accompanied by a picture with two police officers with the captions “PROTECTOR” and “30,000 FOR 7 MILLION” on it, also stated that the IPCC report “used plenty of evidence to show that police are the true guardians of Hong Kong since the start of the anti-ELAB incidents”.

However, what IPCC announced yesterday was a “thematic study report” instead of an “investigation report”. Anthony Neoh, chairman of the IPCC, highlighted that the IPCC does not have powers for investigation, and the report was based on what the police force claimed. Meanwhile, Carrie Lam, Hong Kong chief executive, strongly rejected establishing an independent investigation council again yesterday.

People’s Daily’s article, “Who are the true guardians of Hong Kong?”, says that the IPCC “investigation report”, using many facts and statistics, recovered the “6 major truths” of the anti-ELAB crisis, including the “police-triad collusion” on 21 July, 2019 and “police murdering innocents in Prince Edward station” on 31 August, 2019 and proved that these “incidents” were all rumors. “Such ‘investigation’ cleansed all doubts and injustice against the Hong Kong police and showed that the police force are the true guardians of Hong Kong with plenty of evidence”, the article says.
The article suggested that aggressive Hong Kong protesters “has threatened the government with violence by vandalizing infrastructures, paralyzing public order and discretely injuring individuals”; such actions “have turned Hong Kong into a city of darkness and fear, which could be compared to the damage of World War II”. “If the police force did not intervene (with their actions), it would be impossible to think how much damage these rioters would cause to ‘the Pearl of the East’”. “In the course of the police force restoring justice, ‘rioting forces’ have tried to tarnish the police reputation to make way for their violent behaviors by manipulating public opinions”.

The report also sings praises for the IPCC report, saying that the report “does not attempt to dodge or undermine the importance of every problem; through strict scientific investigations, it justified the legality and validity of the police force”. “Although there are some flaws in the police forces’ actions”, the report says, “the police force does adhere to regulations in their actions; such minor problems should not be exaggerated by the opposition to harm the police force’s image”.

Source: Stand News

#IPCC #antiELAB #PoliceBrutality #721Incident #831Incident #ChinesePropaganda #independentinvestigation

#Newspaper

Behind China’s Twitter Campaign, a Murky Supporting Chorus

//Swarms of accounts are amplifying Beijing’s brash new messaging as the country tries to shape the global narrative about the coronavirus and much else.

//No doubt some of these accounts are run by patriotic, tech-savvy Chinese people who get around their government’s ban on Twitter and other Western platforms. But an analysis by The New York Times found that many of the accounts behaved with a single-mindedness that could suggest a coordinated campaign of the type that nation states have carried out on Twitter in the past.

//Of the roughly 4,600 accounts that reposted China’s leading envoys and state-run news outlets during a recent week, many acted suspiciously, The Times found. One in six tweeted with extremely high frequency despite having few followers, as if they were being used as loudspeakers, not as sharing platforms.

//Nearly one in seven tweeted almost nothing of their own, instead filling their feeds with reposts of the official Chinese accounts and others.

//In all, one third of the accounts had been created in the last three months, as the war of words with the Trump administration heated up. One in seven had zero followers.

//It is far from clear that the Chinese government is behind the swarms of accounts helping to spread its gospel on Twitter.

//Twitter last year suspended more than 200,000 accounts that it called a Chinese state-backed operation aimed at discrediting Hong Kong’s protesters

//The Times’s findings add to other recent evidence suggesting that Twitter is being manipulated to amplify pro-Beijing messages. Next Dim, a data firm in Israel, discovered two mundane-looking tweets praising China’s coronavirus response that were liked and reposted hundreds of thousands of times in March, possibly with the help of strategically placed influencer accounts.

//The U.S. State Department found inauthentic-seeming accounts that in April cited a Cambridge University study to raise doubts that the coronavirus originated in China. The most active of these accounts referred to the study in scores of tweets, even though the study’s lead author dismissed that interpretation of its findings.

//The State Department has denounced China’s efforts to burnish its image and drown out criticism during the pandemic, comparing them to Russia’s disinformation campaigns. Both countries are using a range of tools to “shape and tilt any given information environment in their favor,”

//Beijing’s Twitter brigade includes Hua Chunying, the head of the foreign ministry’s information department. Since joining the platform in October, Ms. Hua has attracted more than half a million followers with her feisty put-downs of the United States.

//Public records show that Beijing is trying to expand its influence on the Western internet. China’s internet regulator has sought out contractors to help it “make use of overseas social media platforms to develop online propaganda on major themes,”

Full Article: NTY, (08-Jun)

Further reading:
How China Unleashed Twitter Trolls to Discredit Hong Kong’s Protesters
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/18/world/asia/hk-twitter.html
#Twitter #ChinesePropaganda #Coronavirus #VirusOrigin #US

#Newspaper

China's state council's white paper propagandises anti-epidemic "achievements" without acknowledging whistleblower Dr Li Wenliang

(7 Jun)Today, China's State Council Information Office released a white paper entitled "Fighting COVID-19: China in Action", which declared China a "victim nation" of COVID-19 that deserved fair treatment and was "not to be blamed". It expressed firm opposition against the stigmatization and politicization of the pandemic. The white paper claimed that when the pandemic began, China "provided clear and explicit information to the international community". However, it blatantly omitted the fact that Chinese provincial officials prevented hospitals from reporting cases of the virus. It also neglected to mention ophthalmologist Dr Li Wenliang being exposed to the epidemic and reprimanded by Wuhan authorities. This is an obvious cover-up of the situation's reality.

The white paper consists of 35,000 words and is divided into four sections [with the following titles]: "China's Fight against the Epidemic: A Test of Fire", "Well-Coordinated Prevention, Control and Treatment", "Assembling a Powerful Force to Beat the Virus" and "Building a Global Community of Health for All."

//Xu Lin, deputy minister of the Central Propaganda Department, responded to external criticism during the press conference for the [white paper's] announcement. He said that the Chinese media's reports on the epidemic were impartial and based on facts; accusations of false propaganda were inaccurate and totally ill-founded. Xu criticized the foreign politicians and media that politicised the pandemic and sensationalised theories of its "Chinese origin" and "China's cover-up", among others, without any scientific backing.

Full translation:
https://telegra.ph/Chinas-state-councils-white-paper-propagandises-anti-epidemic-achievements-without-acknowledging-whistleblower-Dr-Li-Wenliang-06-21

Source: Apple Daily

#LiWenliang #WHO #Coronavirus #VirusOrigin #WhitePaper #Epidemic #ChinesePropaganda

#Newspaper

State propaganda promotes "Xi's Art of War", Chinese state media endorses Xi Jinping as match to history’s greatest strategist

(12 Apr) Leading up to April, as the pandemic was devastating the world, Chinese state media heavily touted the article, "Xi Jinping's 'Epidemic' Art of War - Know yourself, know your enemy, come unscathed through a hundred battles", lauding Xi for "leading Wuhan's war on the epidemic as 'commander-in-chief'". It not only declared "complete victory" over the epidemic but also portray Xi as on par with the author of the art of war*. Sun Tzu's Art of War existed in ancient history, Xi's Epidemic Art of War exists today. Some netizens commented, "(We need to teach) students how to discern against evil cultish tricks."

"From 'encountering war' to 'halting war', from 'highest priority' to 'the people's war', from 'high priority events' to 'complete victory'... the General Secretary personally commanded the people's war by observing the situation, strategizing, and making decisions. His many countermeasures and tactics were highly compatible with the principles of China's ancient School of the Military." The state media program "The People's Leader" launched a special series called "Xi Jinping's 'Epidemic' Art of War" to share the essence of its understanding with everyone.

Editor's Note:
* Hundred Schools of Thought were philosophies and schools that flourished from the 6th century to 221 B.C. in China. The School of the Military was among them, of which Sun Tzu was an influential leader.

Source: RFI

Further reading:
Beijing steps up coronavirus measures as dozens of cases emerge from a food market
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus/Beijing-steps-up-coronavirus-measures-as-dozens-of-cases-emerge-from-a-food-market

#Xi #ChinesePropaganda #Victory #Coronavirus #Epidemic #SubTzu #PersonalWorship #GodMaking

#Newspaper

Chinese Propaganda Outlet Has Paid US Newspapers $19 Million For Advertising, Printing

//One of China’s main propaganda outlets has paid American newspapers nearly $19 million for advertising and printing expenses over the past four years, according to documents filed with the Justice Department.

//China Daily, an English-language newspaper controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, has paid more than $4.6 million to The Washington Post and nearly $6 million to The Wall Street Journal since November 2016, the records show.

//China Daily also paid for advertising in several other newspapers: The New York Times ($50,000), Foreign Policy ($240,000), The Des Moines Register ($34,600) and CQ-Roll Call ($76,000).

//It spent a total of $11,002,628 on advertising in U.S. newspapers, and another $265,822 on advertising with Twitter.

//Pro-democracy groups have long warned about the Chinese government’s attempts to push propaganda through American news outlets. Freedom House and the Hoover Institution have both drawn attention to China Daily’s paid inserts in reports on the Chinese government’s efforts to influence the media.

//China Daily and other Beijing-controlled propaganda mills have come under intense scrutiny amid the coronavirus pandemic. Chinese government officials have tried to divert blame for the spread of the virus to the United States and other Western nations. Many of the regime-controlled outlets, including China Daily, have echoed the communist leaders’ talking points.

Full article: Daily Caller, (08-Jun)

#ChinesePropaganda #US #Media #CCP