Global Times

The Global Times (simplified Chinese: 环球时报; traditional Chinese: 環球時報; pinyin: Huánqiú Shíbào) is a daily tabloid newspaper under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party's People's Daily newspaper, commenting on international issues from a nationalistic perspective.[1][2][3][4] The newspaper has spread unfounded conspiracy theories and disinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Global Times
环球时报
TypeDaily newspaper (Weekdays with a weekend edition)
FormatTabloid
Owner(s)People's Daily
PublisherPeople's Daily
EditorHu Xijin
Founded1993, (Chinese edition)
2009, (English Edition)
Political alignmentChinese Communist Party
LanguageChinese and English
HeadquartersNo.2 Jintai Xilu, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100733, People's Republic of China
Circulation1,500,000 (copies printed Mon-Sat), Chinese edition
200,000 (copies printed Mon-Sat), English edition
ISSN2095-2678
Websitewww.globaltimes.cn (English)
www.huanqiu.com (Simplified Chinese)
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The publication has been labelled by some scholars and writers as "China's Fox News" for its propagandistic slant and the monetization of nationalism.[13][14] It is part of a broader set of Chinese state media outlets that constitute the Chinese government's propaganda apparatus.[15][16] It has been designated as a "foreign mission" by the United States Department of State.[17][18]

History

Established as a Chinese-language weekly publication in 1993, an English-language version was launched on 20 April 2009 as part of a Chinese government campaign to compete with overseas media.[19][20][1]

In 2009, Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of both Chinese and English versions, stated that he expected it to make a loss of 20 million yuan in its first year as an English-language publication.[21] As of 2016, Hu said the Global Times was profitable but faced difficulties that would be familiar to other newspaper editors.[22]

The English-language version of the newspaper also has launched two local sections, Metro Beijing since September 2009 and Metro Shanghai since April 2010, in the two largest Chinese metropolises, in an effort to provide more information to local readers.[23][24]

The Global Times launched its US edition in 2013.[1] In June 2020, the United States Department of State designated Global Times as a "foreign mission."[17][18]

Editorial stance

The Chinese-language version has been known to have a pro-Chinese Communist Party slant, attracting a nationalistic readership since its inception in 1993.[21][14][25] When launched in 2009, its editors claimed that the Global Times' English-language version took a less nationalistic stance than its Chinese-language counterpart.[26] The Global Times' editorial stance has been viewed as channeling the views of the hardline faction of top leadership.[27] Some scholars have noted that Global Times' more nationalistic stance permits other official state-run media to appear more moderate in tone.[28]

In 2016, it was reported that the English-language edition then had approximately 20 "foreign experts" who were involved with assigning stories and copyediting, "as long as the coverage [wa]s not about politics".[29]

Controversies

Astroturfing

According to Richard Burger, a former editor at Global Times, in the wake of the arrest of Ai Weiwei, the Chinese staff of the Global Times were ordered to conduct an "astroturfing" campaign against Ai Weiwei in favour of the Chinese Communist Party's criticism of Ai as a "maverick".[30]

China

In May 2016, the Global Times was criticized by the Cyberspace Administration of China that it was "fabricating" news on the US, the South China Sea, North Korea, and Hong Kong, and "disturbing" the order of the cyberspace.[31]

Hong Kong

In May 2016, the Global Times ran a boycott campaign denigrating Hong Kong pro-democracy singer Denise Ho for allegedly advocating independence for Hong Kong and Tibet.[32][33] On 5 June, Lancôme cancelled a promotional concert by the Cantopop star that was scheduled to be held on 19 June in Sheung Wan.[33] Lancôme also added, in a Facebook post, that Ho was not a spokesperson for the brand.[34] The Tibet allegation appeared to have stemmed from Ho's May 2016 meeting with the Dalai Lama.[33] The cancellation drew a heavy backlash in Hong Kong.[33][32] Some Lancôme shops in Hong Kong were shut down during the protests.[35] Listerine, another brand that Ho represents, retained the singer despite the fact that the Global Times also criticized that company hiring Ho as its public face in Hong Kong.[33]

India

In September 2020, India's Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement saying that comments made by the Global Times were falsely attributed to Ajit Doval.[36]

Xinjiang

In 2019, Global Times was criticized for perceived bias in its coverage and portrayal of Uyghurs and of perceived disinformation campaigns regarding Xinjiang re-education camps, which led Twitter to ban it and other state-sponsored media outlets from ad purchases.[37][38][39][40]

Australia

The Global Times has been strident in its description of Australia as a paper cat in relation to the South China Sea, and a former offshore prison in relation to an Olympic swimmer being identified as a former drug cheat (in reference to the country's former status as a British penal colony).[41][42]

Coronavirus disinformation campaigns

The Global Times has been one of several Chinese state media agencies propagating disinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic via Facebook posts and targeted ads.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] In January 2021, the Global Times urged Australia not to use the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.[43][44]

See also

References
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  2. Jiang, Steven (16 August 2019). "The man taking on Hong Kong from deep inside China's propaganda machine". CNN. Archived from the original on 2 December 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  3. "China's Global Times plays a peculiar role". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 27 April 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  4. Wee, Sui-Lee; Mao, Sabrina (6 January 2012). "China must assert itself despite new US strategy-paper". Reuters. Beijing. Archived from the original on 9 January 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  5. MOLTER, VANESSA; DIRESTA, RENEE (8 June 2020). "Pandemics & propaganda: how Chinese state media creates and propagates CCP coronavirus narratives". Harvard Kennedy School. Misinformation Review. Archived from the original on 9 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  6. Molter, Vanessa; Webster, Graham (31 March 2020). "Virality Project (China): Coronavirus Conspiracy Claims". Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  7. "Chinese Again Float U.S. Biolab Conspiracy Theories". Polygraph.info. Archived from the original on 23 August 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
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  9. Dodds, Laurence (5 April 2020). "China floods Facebook with undeclared coronavirus propaganda ads blaming Trump". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  10. Broderick, Ryan (13 March 2020). "Chinese Diplomats Are Pushing Conspiracy Theories That The Coronavirus Didn't Originate In China". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on 5 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
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  15. Javier C. Hernández (23 May 2020). "China Deploys Propaganda Machine to Defend Move Against Hong Kong". New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 May 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
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  20. Canaves, Sky (4 June 2009). "Global Times Breaches China's Official Media Silence on Tiananmen". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
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