It was barely a minute into 2017 and China Central Television (CCTV), Beijing’s largest and most important TV network, said it will launch a new global media platform to help re-brand China overseas.
The new multilingual media cluster will have six TV channels, a video newsletter agency and a new media agency, and will see the original CCTV News channel renamed to China Global Television Network, (CGTN).
The government has long grumbled about the Western news media’s hold on international discourse and has spent vast sums in recent years to enhance its own influence and shape global opinion, with CCTV as one of its spearheads. The broadcaster will have channels in English, Arabic, French, Spanish and Russian and production centres in Washington and Nairobi. (Source)
President Xi Jinping said in February last year that state media must tell China’s story to the world better and become internationally influential.
We are telling you that this is another one of China’s moves to reassert themselves as a super power. They are tired of foreign media portraying biased views on China. They now want to represent themselves on the global stage and share their side of the story (and more).
Here is a quick look at their check list for global dominance:
Whoever said the one-party system is harmful for the country?
Closer to home, as Singapore continues to ‘punch above its weight’ in the international arena, could our Channel News Asia learn a thing or two about expanding their influence to shape international discourses and protect Singapore’s interest?