Lula will sign a cooperation agreement with China’s state TV

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) is expected to sign an agreement with the China Media Group, known by its initials CMG and controlled by the Chinese communist leader, Xi Jinping. Beijing can use the partnership to sway Brazilian viewers and create a more positive general view of the Chinese government, according to analysts.

China had its image tarnished for having been the country of origin of the Covid-19 pandemic and then for having used its power, as the largest supplier of medical supplies, to make political and economic bargains. In addition, leader Xi Jinping’s communist and dictatorial political system is also not well regarded in democratic countries in the West.

China Media Group is a state-owned TV created in 2018 and controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. It includes companies such as Central China Television, China National Radio, and others.

The cooperation agreement should be formalized during Lula’s visit to China. It foresees, among other points, the “exchange and cooperation of contents in favor of the economic, social and sustainable development of the two countries”.

In addition, the agreement provides for an exchange of professionals. That is, Chinese will be able to work in Brazil and national professionals will be able to do these internships in China.

“The memorandum signed between Brazil and the Chinese state-owned company aims to establish a series of partnerships, such as: content cooperation, technology innovation collaboration in economic and social development; organization and coverage of events”, informed the Ministry of Institutional Relations in note.

The portfolio, headed by Minister Alexandre Padilha, is responsible for coordinating the agreement between the two countries. The partnership will be valid for two years with automatic renewal for the same period.

For Marcelo Suano, professor of International Relations at Ibmec, there must be a criterion in the distribution of content from China to Brazil. “The question of them placing content in the Brazilian media is a key point. It is interesting that countries make agreements that allow media companies to collaborate with each other. The problem is in the placement of content. How will it be made available? How will they be worked on in society?”, asks Suano.

Still according to the professor, the movement can be seen as a public diplomacy strategy by China. “People think that public diplomacy is the one done between governments, but public diplomacy is the way a country develops a strategy to enter into the society of the countries it is relating to, to convey a positive vision of what it is and what it wants “, complete.

Bolsonaro accepted a similar treaty in the audiovisual area

The proposal follows the same treaty model signed in 2019 by then-president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) during Xi Jipping’s visit to Brazil. At the time, the Brazilian government claimed that the idea was to promote cultural and audiovisual exchange between the two countries.

Under the terms of the agreement, it was foreseen the exchange of films and television programs and the promotion of Brazilian film festivals in China and Chinese film festivals in Brazil, for the reciprocal dissemination of films. It was also intended to start conversations about the possible possibility of establishing a pay-TV channel dedicated exclusively to Chinese-Brazilian programs and films.

However, as well as in the economy, Brazil and China are at very different levels in audiovisual terms. The Chinese have a state-owned audiovisual industry on the rise and have entered with millionaire sums in a Brazilian market that is not so hot.

The audiovisual market in Brazil is also dependent on state funding, but it is not controlled by the state but by the private sector. But most of the productions are financed through the audiovisual law, which allows raising funds from private companies in exchange for tax rebates. Productions with Chinese subsidy have been trying to take off in Brazil, but they have run into cultural differences that make it difficult for the projects to progress.

Now, the Lula government argues that the new agreement will provide for cooperation in content, technology, organization and coverage of events. Before Lula’s trip to China, journalist Hélio Doyle, president of the EBC, had a meeting with the president of the CMG for Latin America, Zhu Boying, to discuss the resumption of the partnership.

Doyle expressed interest in using CMG’s platforms to disseminate content about Brazil in China. In addition, the Planalto Palace declares that it is negotiating other agreements of the same nature with Portugal and Spain, and there is interest in extending them to other nations of the European Union, the United States and Canada.

In Marcelo Suano’s evaluation, the Chinese work with the “time factor” to move forward with their strategies. “If this is going to be done in the long term, it is within the Chinese strategy of cubic diplomacy. They have something that we don’t have, which is the time thing. watching them advance quickly two three four pieces”, argues the professor of International Relations.

Report cites Brazil in China’s campaign to influence global media

The agreement closed with Brazil by the communication group controlled by the Chinese communist party is part of China’s strategy to expand its influence around the world. This is what a report by the NGO Freedom Househeadquartered in Washington and partially funded by the government of the United States of America.

Beijing’s move is part of a strategy to try to reverse the world’s negative views of the country. The Chinese assessment is that this bad reputation would be the result of misperceptions due to the way the Western media portrays the Asian country. In response, the Chinese communist regime seeks to influence global opinion and create a more positive view of China through state media.

“Beijing’s media influence in Brazil is significant and growing. During the coverage period, from 2019 to 2021, Chinese state media and diplomatic actors actively engaged in public diplomacy and expanded their presence on social media. Chinese state-owned media also signed or renewed cooperation agreements with Brazilian private and public media,” says the document from Freedom House.

In this strategy, the Chinese state-owned communications company tried to address sensitive issues such as Taiwan’s independence, in addition to the debate surrounding the effectiveness of Chinese vaccines against Covid-19. The Asian country also invested in “positive messages about the economic relationship” between the two nations, highlighting the importance of Chinese companies for the Brazilian 5G network.

Last year, the Chinese company Huawei was banned from selling communications equipment in the United States. Huawei is investigated for espionage in the country.

The government of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) had resistance over Huawei’s participation in Brazil’s 5G networks, citing the same concerns as the United States. However, the guidelines for the implementation of the technology, approved in 2021, do not contain restrictions on the Chinese company, which supplies equipment to the country’s three largest telephone operators. This is because it would be technically unfeasible to replace equipment already installed by Huawei in Brazil.

Although the presence of Chinese media is relevant here, the report from the Freedom House states that “there was no evidence of disinformation campaigns originating in China that used coordinated or inauthentic behavior to specifically target news consumers in Brazil”. The concern is justified because during the pandemic, the Chinese government launched disinformation campaigns on the web in the United States and on the African continent.

Still according to the report, Brazilians show strong resistance to media content from foreign vehicles. “Brazil has strong limits on foreign ownership in the media and telecommunications sectors. The country also has a tradition of investigative journalism, a diverse media ecosystem and an active sector of civil society, which serve as a foundation for resilience in the face of foreign media influence”, he says.

China expanded investments to attract foreign audiences in several countries

The strategy calls soft poweror soft power in free translation, has been strengthened by the government of China especially after 2020. Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes shows that negative opinions about the country reached historic levels after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

For the majority of respondents, of various nationalities, China has done a poor job of dealing with the emergence of Covid-19. Furthermore, Xi Jinping’s approval ratings among respondents in more advanced economies have been on the decline.

Among the tools of soft power Chinese activities are promoting the country’s culture with cultural exchanges in education and research, economic cooperation, and the use of media for political messages. However, these media outlets are criticized for their far from impartial coverage of the Chinese dictatorship, for distorting information and for promoting narratives against governments of other countries, in defense of Beijing’s interests.

Study says China turned the Covid-19 pandemic into an opportunity

The study The Covid-19 Story: Unmasking China’s Global Strategy (The Covid-19 Story-Unmasking China’s Global Strategy), commissioned by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), showed that the coronavirus pandemic has been skillfully turned from a problem into an opportunity by China.

This is even after Beijing adopted authoritarian quarantine policies that violated individual freedoms of citizens and had negative economic effects around the world.

In the strategy, Xi Jinping’s government activated its channels for disseminating information abroad to flood foreign media with offers of national and international news in local languages, sowing positive stories about how it managed the pandemic.

The research report identified a more interventionist approach on the part of Beijing, with increased exposure of embassies and ambassadors in these countries.

“Ambassadors have become more active in expressing criticism of local media coverage and even politics, thus strengthening China’s influence in media beyond its borders,” said the survey conducted in 50 countries.

The survey showed, for example, that countries receiving vaccines developed by China were the most likely to treat the pandemic approach positively. The influence was seen most positively in Africa, where half of respondents believe it is beneficial and where many countries use Chinese vaccines.

All Africans surveyed for the study reported a visible presence of the country in the local press, and half said that coverage of China has become more positive after Covid. Three-quarters of them said they viewed content cooperation with Chinese entities as positive. But, according to analysts, it will probably never be known what the real number of deaths in China due to the pandemic was.

In 2021, Chinese state TV content was banned in the UK for breaching local laws on media control, which prevent ownership of vehicles by political parties. Australia and Germany followed the same path, with sanctions and suspensions to the broadcaster.