Covid 19 coronavirus: When Covid hit, China was ready to tell its version of the story
11 May, 2021 02:41 AM
9 minutes to read
Under Xi Jinping China has inserted money, power and perspective into the media in almost every country in the world. Photo / AP
Under Xi Jinping China has inserted money, power and perspective into the media in almost every country in the world. Photo / AP
New York Times
By: Ben Smith
The government has been using its money and power to create an alternative to a global news media dominated by outlets like the BBC and CNN. In the fall of 2019, just before global borders
Ben Smith, The New York Times
Published: 10 May 2021 11:43 AM BdST
Updated: 10 May 2021 11:44 AM BdST A giant screen shows news footage of Chinese President Xi Jinping attending a video summit on climate change with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, at a shopping street in Beijing, China April 16, 2021. REUTERS
In the fall of 2019, just before global borders closed, an international journalists’ association decided to canvass its members about a subject that kept coming up in informal conversations: What is China doing? );
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What it found was astonishing in its scope. Journalists from countries as tiny as Guinea-Bissau had been invited to sign agreements with their Chinese counterparts. The Chinese government was distributing versions of its propaganda newspaper China Daily in English and also Serbian. A Filipino journalist estimated that more than half of the stories on a Philippines newswire came from the Chinese state agen
Noel Celis/Getty Images
A leading member of the European Parliament has raised significant concerns about the EU s landmark investment deal with China over its alleged human rights abuses and fears that it could harm relations with the new Biden administration.
The EU-China investment deal aims to liberalize trade between Beijing and Brussels and was struck in the last days of December after last-minute concessions from Chinese premier Xi Jinping.
But there is mounting concern in the European Parliament, which still needs to approve the deal, about the deal given China s human rights record on issues including alleged forced labor camps and a crackdown in Hong Kong which began last year.