China Media Project

The China Media Project is a self-sufficient research initiative focused on exploring the Chinese media environment both in mainland China and around the world. It also delves into the specific media and political narratives of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Currently situated in the United States, with a research center in Taipei, Taiwan, this project began in 2004 as a research and fellowship program at the University of Hong Kong’s Journalism and Media Studies Centre, known as “HKU Journalism.” It was established to address the demand for in-depth research and involvement regarding changes in the Chinese media sector.

International

English

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Global

#992463

United States

#585868

Law and Government/Law and Government

#1256

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Articles

AI Moves to Page One

1 week ago | chinamediaproject.org | David Bandurski

Sitting back in early January with the latest edition of Guangzhou’s Southern Metropolis Daily, one of the country’s leading metro newspapers, daily news readers were treated to a splashy page-one story about how China’s national plans for artificial intelligence development — known as “AI+” — were being unleashed in every sector of the economy and society. But the cover, importantly, was itself proof of how AI is transforming another crucial sector: the media.
Deadly Blunders in Bangkok

3 weeks ago | chinamediaproject.org | Alex Colville

As a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar and Thailand last Friday, the temblor rattled buildings across the sprawling Thai capital of Bangkok, home to an incredible 142 skyscrapers. When the shaking ceased all were standing strong — with one very notable exception. The State Audit Office (SAO) building in Chatuchak district, a 30-story skyscraper still under construction by the subsidiary of a Chinese state-owned enterprise, collapsed into a heap of rubble, trapping nearly 100 people inside.
China's Monologue Machine - China Media Project

3 weeks ago | chinamediaproject.org | David Bandurski

In the latest iteration of the leadership’s efforts to expand local-level involvement in the national project of global propaganda, Wangcheng District in Changsha, Hunan province’s capital city, has established the region’s first county-level international communication center, which the state-run China Daily says will “tell Wangcheng’s story” as well as convey the wisdom of Chinese leadership and development to the world.
War Games - China Media Project

3 weeks ago | chinamediaproject.org | David Bandurski

On Tuesday, China’s military released a propaganda video called “Vanquishing Evil” (降妖除魔) that framed military exercises encircling Taiwan in a show of military force as a blockbuster of mythic dimensions. Complete with video game references, the propaganda spot, promoted widely by state media, made it all seem like a testosterone-fueled game for adolescents — rather than drum-beating about aggressive actions that could set off a deadly regional conflict.
Pen Names, Stern Warnings

1 month ago | chinamediaproject.org | David Bandurski

A forceful warning against wasteful government investments intended for local authorities appeared on Sunday in a central-level newspaper dedicated to economic policy. Though the source of the message was masked in one sense by an official pen name, its import was nonetheless unmistakable — revealing a key fact about how China communicates policy priorities.
A River Crisis Prompts Rare Coverage

1 month ago | chinamediaproject.org | David Bandurski

According to rare reports today from Chinese media, an environmental crisis is unfolding along a stretch of the Leishuei River in Hunan province that impacts the prefectural city of Chenzhou (郴州), home to more than four million people. Abnormal concentrations of thallium — a highly toxic, colorless heavy metal that causes organ damage and cancer through water contamination — have reportedly prompted the city to activate a Level IV emergency response, and residents are stockpiling drinking water.
China’s AI Content Dragnet

1 month ago | chinamediaproject.org | Alex Colville

Hundreds of gigabytes of data lurking on an unsecured server in China linked to Baidu, one of the country’s largest search engines and a major player in the fast-developing field of artificial intelligence (AI), offer a rare glimpse into how the government is likely directing tech giants to categorize data with the use of AI large language models (LLMs) — all to supercharge the monitoring and control of content in cyberspace.
New Messages from China’s Ancient Capital

1 month ago | chinamediaproject.org | David Bandurski

In a city where Buddhist rock carvings have gazed over the Yellow River valley for more than a millennium, local officials are now on their own sacred mission — to join the Chinese state in amplifying its message to the rest of the world.
Shrinking Humanities for AI

1 month ago | chinamediaproject.org | Alex Colville

Shanghai’s Fudan University (复旦大学) is one of China’s most prestigious universities, with a raison d’etre unchanged, it claims, since the institution was founded in 1905: improving China’s position in the world through education. As artificial intelligence takes the world by storm — and becomes a crucial priority from top to bottom in China — the means of achieving that mission is changing, according to the university’s president, Jin Li (金力).
Blackmail Blogging

1 month ago | chinamediaproject.org | David Bandurski

In a stark illustration of media corruption in China, a prominent financial blogger named Kou (寇某), who ran a pair of prominent consumer-related social media channels, was sentenced on March 12 to more than 10 years in prison for “news extortion” (新闻敲诈). The case, which unfolded between 2022 and 2023, highlights a chronic problem in the country’s controlled media environment.