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China’s Southeast Asia embassies use local media to tell positive stories, undermine Western narratives: report
- ‘Tell China’s Story Well: Chinese Embassies’ Media Outreach’ report says China thinks the West is driven by a Cold War mentality
- Author Wang Zheng says Beijing’s efforts to forge ‘national positive image’ have seen mixed response; social media crucial, says analyst
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![Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) chats with Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan (centre) and Thailand’s Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai at the Asean-China Ministerial Meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in August 2022. Photo: AP](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1020x680/public/d8/images/canvas/2022/09/25/4a8cfe20-e55e-48a9-8248-80b87525ccd3_af968a4f.jpg?itok=1rx-_gEH&v=1664039481)
Chinese embassies in Southeast Asia have been using local media to tell a positive “China’s story” in the region, with a core theme of the messaging being Beijing’s denunciation of Western narratives about its domestic politics and foreign policies, according to a recent report.
China regards these narratives as driven by a “Cold War mentality” where Western countries are motivated to demonise its achievements and sabotage solidarity among Asian countries with the ultimate aim of containing its peaceful development, wrote Wang Zheng, author of “Tell China’s Story Well: Chinese Embassies’ Media Outreach in Southeast Asian Media”.
The report is published by the Singapore-based ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
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To refute Western narratives of it, China contends it firmly champions multilateralism, free trade, and a rules-based international order as enshrined in the United Nations (UN) charter.
To get its message across, it uses three channels – media events organised by its embassies; signed articles by Chinese leaders and diplomats in local newspapers; and interviews and media briefings by Chinese ambassadors with local media, wrote Wang, a former visiting fellow at the institute.
He is currently doing a PhD in political science in the US.
![Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah (left) and Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing attend an event marking the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China hosted by the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur in September 2021. Photo: Xinhua Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah (left) and Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing attend an event marking the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China hosted by the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur in September 2021. Photo: Xinhua](https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2022/09/25/93a8b9e6-a9da-4e3b-9436-645ca2874d77_f802a798.jpg)
China’s efforts to forge a “national positive image” among Southeast Asians have received a mixed response. At the regional level, wrote Wang, views regarding China’s influence in Southeast Asia appear to be “more critical than what China may have expected”.
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