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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 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.
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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