Media

All news and posts of our editorial team on the topic

TikTok allows access to EU user data
The social media platform TikTok, operated by Chinese company Bytedance, plans to allow its employees in several countries, including China, to access data of European, Swiss and British users. This is according to the company’s new privacy policy, which is set to come into effect on Dec. 2. Countries, where European user data can be […] continue reading →
Propaganda accusations against ‘The China Project’
The well-known American China platform “The China Project” has come under fire in the US Congress. It filed a complaint accusing the platform of engaging in propaganda in the service of the Chinese government. US Senator Marco Rubio commented on the complaint, saying that “American citizens acting as agents of a hostile foreign government should […] continue reading →
State media emphasize openness to investment
China’s state-controlled media currently emphasize in unison how investor-friendly their country is. Articles were published in English and Chinese on Friday, referring to the latest data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to the data, foreign direct investment (FDI) was up 16 percent in the first nine months of the year. This, they said, […] continue reading →
Philipp Bilsky – German voice from Taipei
“The office in Taipei was an important step for our editorial team,” says Philipp Bilsky. At Deutsche Welle, he is responsible for everything that is published in Chinese. The 45-year-old set up his editorial team’s first office in the Chinese-speaking world in Taipei. From 2018, he worked there for more than four years; meanwhile, he […] continue reading →
Stephan Orth – couchsurfer and travel journalist
“I am a travel reporter with a preference for countries that have a bad reputation,” Stephan Orth describes himself. On the ground, however, the motto of the professional couchsurfer, despite extensive travel preparation, is: “Approach everything with an open mind.” And that’s exactly what is needed: Couchsurfers look for free accommodation at strangers’ homes via […] continue reading →
Twitter deletes more than 3000 accounts
Short messaging service Twitter has removed more than 3,000 accounts linked to state-directed influence. Customer accounts with links to six countries, including China, Russia, and Mexico, were affected, Twitter explained. More than 2100 of the total 3465 accounts had ties to China. Twitter often takes such actions and removes or blocks accounts associated with countries […] continue reading →
Xi and Biden discussed disarmament and oil reserves
A day after leader Xi Jinping’s online summit with US President Joe Biden, the first details from the meeting are emerging. The two sides have agreed on a high-level series of talks on nuclear disarmament, Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday evening. According to the statement, Biden had put the issue on […] continue reading →
US concerned about the health of detained journalist
The US State Department has expressed concerns about the health of detained Chinese grassroots journalist Zhang Zhan, Reuters reports. The US had “serious concerns about the arbitrary nature of her detention and her mistreatment during it,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said. The US is calling for her “immediate and unconditional” release. The journalist has […] continue reading →
Study on China coverage ignores political reality
The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation recently published a study entitled "China Coverage in the German Media in the Context of the COVID Crisis". In it, the authors accuse the texts from seven newspapers and magazines of having "a Western values agenda and a Eurocentric perspective". In the reporting, "clichés and stereotypes" were taken up. Political scientist and China expert, Andreas Fulda from the University of Nottingham thinks the study's conclusions are wrong. continue reading →
Winter Olympics: correspondents demand transparency
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) has called for more transparency in international coverage of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Over the past year, the foreign press has been hindered in its coverage of preparations for the Games, the association wrote on Twitter. For example, foreign media representatives were denied access to routine events, and […] continue reading →
Rosa Luxemburg Foundation expects ‘opposition and rejection’
In a recent study, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation accuses German print media of adopting a Eurocentric perspective in their reporting on China. However, its authors fail to assess how close to reality the texts examined actually are. Instead, they base their judgment on core concepts that are supposed to indicate a "media-constructed enemy image of China." a counter-argument criticizes the study of ignoring the political reality in Germany. continue reading →
ZDF Info removes documentary series from media library
ZDF has withdrawn a documentary series from its media library because it adopts China’s point of view too much. A rerun of “China vs. USA – Clash of the Superpowers” in the ZDF Info program has also been canceled, the website Übermedien reports. The four-part series was produced by Mediacorp, Singapore’s state broadcaster. The series […] continue reading →
Caixin booted off official media list
The Chinese government has removed the comparatively critical news portal Caixin from the list of media whose content may be published by other Chinese websites. This significantly damages Caixin’s reach. The publication focuses on financial and economic issues. It has maintained a significant degree of independence despite government censorship and is therefore considered an important […] continue reading →
China’s propaganda in Western media
China is taking advantage of the economic hardships of Western publishers to buy itself reputable platforms for its propaganda. In the US, but also in Germany, large sums of money flow into advertisements and inserts in renowned newspapers and magazines. Things could hardly go any better for Beijing. Because this provides the People's Republic a platform for the public display of its political interests. continue reading →
Switzerland warns media against phantom biologists
The Swiss embassy in Beijing has called on Chinese media to stop referring to the supposed Swiss biologist “Wilson Edwards” in their reporting on the origin of the Covid virus and to delete articles that cite him as a source. There is simply no Swiss person registered under that name. Nor are there any scientific […] continue reading →
Incitement against foreign media
A photograph of a Chinese weightlifter is being used as a tool by Chinese diplomats to rally against foreign media. Correspondents reporting from the flooded areas in Henan are being threatened. Affected journalists strongly suspect a deliberate campaign by Chinese authorities. continue reading →
British Broadcasting Authority revokes CGTN broadcasting licence
A media dispute is simmering between the United Kingdom and China: The British broadcasting authority Ofcom has revoked the broadcasting license of the English-language foreign broadcaster CGTN from China due to political influence on the program. The reason given by the authority was that an investigation had shown that the broadcasting license was wrongly held […] continue reading →