Translations: As Tributes Pour In, Chengdu’s You Xing Bookstore Gets a Reprieve From Feared Closure
Following more than a week of speculation that Chengdu’s You Xing Bookstore (有杏书店, Yǒu Xìng...
cultural exchange
BRI Generates Record Investments in Early 2025, as Foreign Media Push Continues
At the start of 2025, analysts reflected on the trajectory of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) more than a decade after its launch. Years of massive overseas lending brought China to an unfamiliar role of being a major...
On “Xiaohongshu Balance-Sheet Comparisons”: “Can You Still Ignore the Fact That You Live on the Wrong Side of a One-Way Mirror?”
The mingling of so-called "TikTok refugees" with Chinese users on the PRC-based social network Xiaohongshu spawned a range of reactions, from some Chinese users’ excitement at the unexpected opening of a window...
With Chinese Training Programs, African Journalists Engage in a Struggle Over Narratives
To what extent do Chinese training programs for African journalists provide alternatives to overcome (historically Western) colonial practices of knowledge production, or instead perpetuate those same colonial practices? And how...
Words of the Week: “Xiaohongshu Balance-Sheet Comparisons” (小红书对账, Xiǎohóngshū duìzhàng)
Although an executive order signed by President Trump on Monday gave Bytedance-owned TikTok a 75-day reprieve from an impending U.S. ban, the future—and future ownership—of the popular short-video sharing platform remains...
Netizen Voices on TikTok “Refugees”: “We All Know This Isn’t Going to End Well, so Let’s Enjoy This ‘Global-village Moment’ While We Can”
As the U.S. Supreme Court voted to uphold a law forcing either the sale or ban of ByteDance-owned TikTok, “TikTok refugees” continued flocking to the Chinese-language app Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote. The influx of new...
Censorship Creeps Up on “TikTok Refugees” Fleeing to Chinese App Xiaohongshu
Pending a Supreme Court ruling, the U.S. government’s crackdown on TikTok might end the app’s availability in U.S. app stores this weekend. The looming ban has prompted American users to seek a new home in another Chinese app,...
CDT 2024 Year-End Roundup: Quotes of the Year (Part 2)
As 2024 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese) from across the Chinese internet over the past year. Topics include this year’s most outstanding quotes, reports, podcasts and...
Chinese Government Leverages Inbound Tourism to Boost External Propaganda
In a global public opinion climate marked by polarized views of China, one common tactic employed by the Party-state apparatus to dispel potential criticism is encouraging foreigners to come see China in person. Numerous...
French Museums Waver Between “Tibet” and “Xizang” Amid Uproar Over Chinese Influence
Whether in Hong Kong or Europe, museums that showcase exhibitions related to China sometimes succumb to Xi Jinping’s warning for the arts to foster “correct” viewpoints of history and culture. The latest example of these...
China’s State Media Cooperation with Brazilian Media Yields Soft Power Gains
Efforts by the Chinese state and its state-affiliated actors to engage with global media can be seen as part of a broader drive to enhance China’s soft power and shape narratives in the state’s favor. CDT has documented numerous...
Chinese State Media Expands Partnerships With Kenyan Media, Dominates Local Kenya-China Coverage
China-Kenya relations have weathered a tumultuous year. Anti-China protests, Chinese hacking allegations, and billions of dollars of debt owed to China have strained Kenyan public opinion. In order to address the problem,...
Chinese Censors Fillet “Minions,” Shrink “Big Bang Theory”
Discontented with the ending of “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” during which the titular supervillain Gru and his partner-in-crime Wild Knuckles escape arrest alongside three yellow bean-shaped minions, China’s censors gave it...
Chinese Media Influence and People-to-people Exchanges in Francophone Africa
Last week, the U.S.-based think tank National Bureau of Asian Research published a roundtable edition of its Asia Policy journal that shared African perspectives on the China-Africa relationship. One essay was written by...
Interview: Maria Repnikova on Chinese Soft Power
China’s soft power initiatives are often derided by Western observers as ineffective or counterproductive. Over a hundred Confucius Institutes in the U.S. and Europe have been targeted as arms of the Chinese state and forced to...
Taiwan Expands Soft Power through Language Learning Centers, Harvard’s Mandarin Program Decamps to Taipei
Language learning can be a bridge to mutual understanding between nations, but it is not immune from politics. In what the Chinese Foreign Ministry has interpreted as a political move, the Harvard Beijing Academy, a Mandarin...
Another Brick In the Wall: Music Site’s Blocking Further Closes Off Chinese Internet
Nobody was surprised when Clubhouse, the viral app on which Chinese users shared their unfiltered views with global audiences, was blocked in China. Users had widely anticipated that Clubhouse would have to die. But the sudden...
Report: How and Why Hollywood Self-censors for China
China’s cinemas have begun to recover from an 88%, 30 billion-yuan ticket sales crash triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, reopening began in low-risk areas with mandatory masks and temperature checks, a ban on...
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