Headlines and Hashtags

Media coverage of academic plagiarism highlights internal tug-of-war over fair game and taboo in news reporting

David Bandurski

CMP Director

Latest Articles

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.

The Slow Close of an Era

Feb 4, 2025 | David Bandurski

This year dawned with the closure of another batch of print newspapers in China. The relentless death of print continues in the country — mirroring a global trend.

Uncovering the Scam Industry

Feb 3, 2025 | Positive Connections

Through on-the-ground reporting, the WeChat-based outlet Positive Connections offers rare insight into the cyber scam compounds along the Thailand-Myanmar border — questioning prevailing Chinese public opinion that scapegoats Southeast Asian countries.

Central and Local Media Join Forces in Thailand

Jan 24, 2025 | David Bandurski

A Bangkok summit celebrating China’s engagement in Southeast Asia reveals Beijing’s growing use of both national and provincial propaganda outlets to shape regional narratives.

A Golden Friendship

Jan 23, 2025 | Dalia Parete

A forum in Bangkok this month underscored China’s ambition to work with local partners in Southeast Asia to impact public opinion there. A closer look at one of the propaganda vehicles meant to accomplish this goal suggests carelessness reigns down below such high-level exchanges.

China’s Fastest-Growing App

Jan 22, 2025 | Alex Colville

With all eyes on TikTok’s trials and tribulations in the US, the fact that its parent company, ByteDance, has a white-hot new app back in China is easy to overlook. China’s regulators haven’t.

Vacancies for Global Propaganda

Jan 21, 2025 | Alex Colville

How does China imagine its push for international “discourse power” will unfold? The types of people CCP and government-linked entities are trying to recruit offers an illuminating snapshot.

American Refugees

Jan 16, 2025 | David Bandurski

As TikTok users seek asylum on China’s RedNote, and glee ensues from commentators in the world’s most restricted internet environment, the lines of repression in the promised land are quickly revealing themselves.

A Proposal for AI-Powered Censorship

Jan 14, 2025 | David Bandurski

A delegate to Shanghai’s annual political meeting has submitted a proposal for using AI to better control social media content.

Cutting Micro-Dramas Down to Size

Jan 9, 2025 | Alex Colville

China’s government has signaled stricter rules this year for micro-dramas, a bite-size entertainment format with mega market potential.

Total War for Global Minds

Jan 7, 2025 | Alex Colville

CCP leaders are mobilizing society in an all-out bid to revolutionize the country’s international communication. Will the strategy end in absurdity and waste?

AI for All

Dec 20, 2024 | Alex Colville

China is positioning itself as an alternative source of AI technology for the global south, undercutting the influence of the West and expanding its own in a critical new field.

China’s Global Talent Crunch

Dec 6, 2024 | Alex Colville

China has placed its hopes for greater global influence on a new national network of provincial and city-level communication centers. But as they try to tell China’s story in ways that foreign audiences find compelling, can they find the talented staff they need at home?

Telling Zhejiang’s Story

Dec 4, 2024 | Alex Colville

As international communication centers, or ICCs, open across China to beef up its global impact, one province has become home to a disproportionate number. What’s behind the ICC boom in Zhejiang?

‘Iron Brothers’ for the China Story

Nov 22, 2024 | Dalia Parete

Launched in Pakistan eight years ago, Huashang Weekly offers an up-close look at how China is telling its story overseas by propping up news outlets that amplify its voice.

Catching Predators in the County Government

Nov 14, 2024 | Dalia Parete

Coverage in China this month of the rape of a 13-year-old girl, a case involving local officials, has drawn the focus to shortcomings in sexual assault protections as well as government corruption.

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