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He Yanguang

September 2005 — One of China’s most renowned photojournalists, He Yanguang is currently the photo director for China Youth Daily. Among He’s best known work is his series of photographs taken during the SARS epidemic in 2003. Also an experienced reporter, He is a six-time recipient of China’s national news prize. He has been with […]

September 2005 — One of China’s most renowned photojournalists, He Yanguang is currently the photo director for China Youth Daily. Among He’s best known work is his series of photographs taken during the SARS epidemic in 2003. Also an experienced reporter, He is a six-time recipient of China’s national news prize. He has been with China Youth Daily since 1983, when he joined the paper as a junior reporter.
Click HERE for He Yanguang’s BLOG

David Bandurski

CMP Director

Latest Articles

AI Moves to Page One

Apr 18, 2025 | David Bandurski

One of China’s most celebrated metro commercial newspapers embraces artificial intelligence for front-page design, signaling deeper digital disruption in a newspaper industry facing tough times.

China’s Anti-Corruption Act

Apr 10, 2025 | Dalia Parete

The country’s leadership has launched another round of anti-corruption campaigning. But its use of classic cases, personal shaming and action posing is a reminder that it is more interested in political theater and loyalty tests than in real institutional reform.

Deadly Blunders in Bangkok

Apr 2, 2025 | Alex Colville

When a skyscraper built by a Chinese state company was the only to collapse in during the recent earthquake, China’s first response was not rescue — it was information lockdown.

China’s Monologue Machine

Apr 2, 2025 | David Bandurski

The newest “international communication center” in Hunan recruits college volunteers to promote state-approved narratives about local development to foreign audiences. Is this strategic thinking, or a fatal failure to grasp how communication works?

War Games

Apr 1, 2025 | David Bandurski

Beijing conjures ancient magic to transform military threats into mythical adventures — but Taiwan sees nothing supernatural about the missiles pointed at its shores.

Pen Names, Stern Warnings

Mar 25, 2025 | David Bandurski

Over the weekend, a state-run newspaper used a coded byline to signal concern about local government waste. It was a reminder of how the internal communication of the Chinese Communist Party works through an opaque system of institutional pseudonyms.

A River Crisis Prompts Rare Coverage

Mar 24, 2025 | David Bandurski

Chinese media outlets have taken the unusual step of more openly covering a toxic thallium contamination in Hunan’s Leishuei River, exposing a crisis kept under wraps for a full week.

New Messages from China’s Ancient Capital

Mar 21, 2025 | David Bandurski

China’s latest international communication center, or ICC, has been founded in Luoyang, a cradle of Chinese civilization, as part of growing efforts to enhance the country’s global media presence under the guidance of the state.

Shrinking Humanities for AI

Mar 19, 2025 | Alex Colville

As China makes a national push toward technology-driven ‘new productive forces,’ Shanghai’s prestigious Fudan University pivots from humanities to artificial intelligence. Is this the right move?

Blackmail Blogging

Mar 18, 2025 | David Bandurski

The sentencing of an online influencer for “news extortion” in China reveals a shadowy world in which media have the power to put a price tag on silence.

China’s Campus Propaganda Pipeline

Mar 14, 2025 | David Bandurski

Xi’an Jiaotong University partners with a state propaganda center to create a “talent pipeline” for China’s global messaging efforts — raising concerns about academic independence as universities become tools in Beijing’s international influence strategy.

Influencer Diplomacy

Mar 13, 2025 | Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat

On a recent curated tour of cities in China, Indonesian influencers gushed about food and culture while millions of followers watched. Behind their seemingly spontaneous posts lies a sophisticated state strategy: these digital stars are unwitting ambassadors in China’s campaign to reshape its image abroad, revealing how social media is transform…

Ancient Outpost Seeks a New Voice

Mar 5, 2025 | David Bandurski

Guyuan becomes the latest local hub in China’s vertically integrated propaganda network, joining forces with a state media outlet to amplify Beijing’s voice abroad.

Leapfrogging to Autocratic AI

Feb 24, 2025 | Alex Colville

As China’s DeepSeek AI is adapted to censor anti-government content in India, is the technology a gift to despots everywhere?

Prato Gets Wenzhou Media Liaison Office

Feb 14, 2025 | David Bandurski

China’s network of ICCs — local centers meant to revolutionize its state-led global communication — is growing both at home and overseas.

When Does Xi Get a Byline?

Feb 13, 2025 | Alex Colville

Bylined appearances by the country’s top leader in the flagship newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party offer a window into the messaging priorities of the leadership.

A Paint-by-Numbers Push for Influence

Feb 11, 2025 | David Bandurski

A district-level hub in Fujian province becomes the latest in a nationwide effort to revolutionize China’s global influence. It underscores the huge gap between Xi Jinping’s grand ambitions and local grandstanding.

The Screws Tighten on Military Content

Feb 10, 2025 | David Bandurski

Under new rules from the country’s top internet control body and nine other departments, social media accounts covering the PLA and defense topics must now display special markers and undergo strict identity checks.

A Rude Awakening

Feb 6, 2025 | Dalia Parete

This month, a viral video of a staged blind date intrusion sparked outrage on Chinese social media, becoming a cautionary tale about the dangers of fakery for entertainment.

Over-Dramatizing the Harm of Self-Media

Feb 5, 2025 | Alex Colville

A sketch during this year’s Spring Festival Gala on China Central Television attacked “self-media,” showing how social posts distort the truth. But the state-run network’s portrayal of independent content creators as purely harmful is itself an exaggeration and oversimplification.

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