Afghanistan’s once-thriving media landscape has been decimated by the Taliban takeover, and China is seizing the opportunity to bolster its media presence and project a favorable views of the PRC.

In the early post-Mao era a quarter century ago, China began experimenting with the idea of independent, bottom-up civil society organizations. Since that time, China’s relationship with civil society, and with global organizations, has been a study in contrasts — between the benefits to society and the potential dangers to the state.

CCTV, or CGTN, is often called the BBC of China. But just how much do these publicly broadcasters differ, and what do those differences tell us?