Netizen Voices: As Sino-Japanese Tensions Rise, “Tourism is Treated like a Chamberpot, a Disposable Tool”
The diplomatic crisis between China and Japan continues to intensify, following Japanese Prime...
state media
Translations: Mourning the Decline of Investigative Reporting on China’s National Journalists’ Day
Last Saturday, November 8, was China’s National Journalists’ Day—often an occasion for mixed feelings among China’s beleaguered independent journalists. The WeChat account 磨稿子 Mó Gǎozi, or “Polishing Manuscripts,”...
Translations: “How Can a Country That Blocks the Nobel Website Hope to Win a Nobel Prize?”
The news that two more Japanese scientists were awarded Nobel Prizes in the natural sciences has been met with considerable consternation on the Chinese internet. Shimon Sakaguchi of Osaka University and two American scientists,...
Netizen Voices: Backlash Against Supposed Beauty of Golden Week Traffic Jams
State media hailed the mass travel over this month’s "Super Golden Week" holiday as a sign of profound economic vigor. Xinhua, for example, reported that the "travel boom […] demonstrated the country’s...
All-China Journalists Association Criticized for “Showing Courage Only When There Is No Risk”
Knowing when and what to critique is a delicate matter for Chinese journalists. Party censorship constrains journalistic zeal, forcing journalists and media outlets to navigate red lines at their own peril. Many try to find...
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...
China Resigned to Quiet Diplomacy After U.S. and Israeli Strikes on Iran
A fragile ceasefire appears to have paused 12 days of war between Israel and Iran, which has killed at least 28 people in Israel and at least 1,054 people in Iran. As the dust settles, observers have scrutinized not only the...
State Media Reminds Workers that Labor Rights Are “Granted” by the Party
A series of state-media reports on the theme of the May 1 International Workers Day provide a window into the CCP’s perception of labor rights in China. This week, China Daily published a series of quotes by Xi Jinping to...
Minitrue Plus Five: February 15, 2020 – Infections Among Coronavirus-control Workers, Construction Equipment Fandom
In late 2020, CDT acquired and verified a collection of propaganda directives issued by central Party authorities to state media at the beginning of that year. These directives were issued on an almost daily basis in early 2020...
Chinese Experts, State Media React to the Arrival of Trump 2.0
Like their American counterparts, Chinese leaders in academia, government, and the media are working to discern and shape the new trajectory of U.S.-China relations under a second Trump administration, now that he has officially...
People of the Year, 2024: Victims of Indiscriminate Attacks
As 2024 drew to a close, CDT editors compiled 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 videos,...
Minitrue Plus Five: January 2, 2020 – Mystery Pneumonia and U.S. Trade
In late 2020, CDT acquired and verified a collection of propaganda directives issued by central Party authorities to state media at the beginning of that year. These directives were issued on an almost daily basis in early 2020...
CDT Editors’ Picks: The Best of 2024
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...
Translations: Signs of Displeasure Herald Business Closures in Chaozhou, Shantou
Late last month, a rash of food-stall, restaurant, shop, and factory closures in Chaozhou and Shantou, two prefectural-level cities in China’s southern Guangdong province, went viral online. Many Chinese social media users...
China Cites Automation in Response to BBC Report on Forced Labor in Xinjiang Tomato Farming
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ daily press conference last Thursday saw the BBC verbally tag-teamed by the nationalist state-run tabloid Global Times and the ministry’s spokesperson, Lin Jian. At issue was...
South Korean Martial Law Chaos Stirs Memories of Tank Man on Weibo
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s late-night declaration of martial law—and the immense pushback from lawmakers and the public that forced him to rescind the order—has been the talk of the Chinese internet. Online...
CDT Report: Borrowed Boats: The PRC’s “Embedded Propaganda” in Local African Media
The full report can be read in PDF form here. Below is a brief introduction. A pilot study conducted by CDT and Doublethink Lab examines “embedded propaganda” (EP) in African news media. Our study defines EP as the practice of...
Translation: Anodyne Winners of 34th China Journalism Awards Prompt Declaration That “News is Dead”
On the eve of “Journalists’ Day” on November 8, the All-China Journalists Association announced the winners of the two most prestigious national prizes for reportage: the China Journalism Award and the Changjiang Taofen Award. A...
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