China wants to get a foot in the European media landscape in the door. A TV production facility of China Global Television Network (CGTN) is due to open shortly in London. The goal: English-language coverage of politics and economics „from a Chinese perspective“. However, there are voices warning against propaganda – because behind the transmitter stands the Chinese state, which strictly controls the media.
The CGTN newsgroup is part of China Central Television (CCTV), the nation’s largest television broadcaster. It is directly subordinate to the Ministry of Radio, Television and Film and is considered to be an organ of the Communist Party. Officially, China wants to reach the Chinese diaspora and international audience with CGTN’s English-language program – but critics see the station group as an „arm of China’s propaganda machine,“ as the New York Times (NYT) writes.
Accordingly, the European offshoot CGTN Europe is suspiciously eyed. This is now, according to a report in the „Financial Times“ („FT“) start month with a one-year delay in London. Around 100 journalists will produce „objective“ news in the Chiswick Park business center. These should focus on British politics, but they also want to cover the rest of Europe. You want to start with a tech show and a weekend talk show.
Already headquarters in USA and Kenya
The location in London will become the third production branch of the station. There have been spin-offs in Washington and Kenya’s capital Nairobi since 2012 – China is extremely present in East Africa due to high investments. Away from the production sites, there are liaison offices worldwide. They are a piece of the puzzle in China’s media strategy aimed at tight control and public opinion leadership. President Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed the role of the media in „community thinking“ and the dissemination of state ideology.
CGTN America alone can be received by 30 million US households. However, this year the US offshoot came under pressure from the trade dispute between the US and China. The station had to register at the beginning of the year under the pressure of President Donald Trump’s government as a „foreign representative“. According to the Foreign Agents Registration Act, he is considered as a body politically active in the US for a „foreign power“.
Advertising instead of splitting
The US Department of Justice justified this by locating a „growing Beijing-led campaign of influence by offshoots of the state media.“ The Russia Today founded and financed by the Russian state broadcaster Russia Today (RT) had to register accordingly. But while RT is aiming at splitting and negative propaganda, CGTN’s job is to promote China: „Reporting on China’s policies and making them appear in the most positive light possible are the main reasons for the existence of CGTN,“ he said the Ministry of Justice.
CGTN America – where, incidentally, many American journalists also work – was insisted on working independently. But the „New York Times“ reported on the basis of several interviews with anonymous employees of the station, that there are instructions from Beijing, especially in internal Chinese issues. For example, the Hong Kong protests in 2014 and the flight of human rights activist Chen Guangcheng from China have been largely hushed up. Another example given: The station is not allowed to show the Taiwanese flag.
In some cases, employees objected to the instructions and were granted some latitude if China did not specifically prohibit the publication of certain content. However, according to the NYT, interviewees also said that they had to provide Beijing with propaganda-including a report that downplayed the imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of Muslim Uighurs. Add to that the financial leverage: Without state funds the broadcaster would not exist.
Confession video could cost sender license
Even in Europe, the launch of CGTN is not going well. Even before the station has begun its work, the British media authority Ofcom has begun investigations against the company. These are based on a complaint from the British Peter Humphrey, a corporate investigator. He had investigated a corruption case in China – in the course of which he himself was accused of passing on data of Chinese citizens.
Humphrey spent 23 months in a Chinese jail and was then confined to a steel cage and drugged. CGTN then aired this. Should the regulator agree, the broadcaster could even be deprived of the license in the UK. But whether the CGTN would stop in London is open. According to an insider cited by the FT, in such a case the broadcaster would „reorient itself“ and focus more on other European countries.
