Angela Lewis, thediplomat.com, February 14, 2019
StarTimes is making inroads across the continent, and winning fans in the process.Image from article, with caption: A StarTimes building — and billboard — in Tanzania. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons/ Ali A. Fazal
According to BuzzFeed News, on February 1 Chinese state television broadcaster CGTN America registered as a foreign agent in the United States, to comply with the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA). CGTN America director-general Jing Ma remained upbeat, claiming the registration was not a reflection on the editorial professionalism of staff, but it is bad news for China’s soft power efforts. Registration directly links CGTN America to propaganda messaging of the Chinese state, thereby weakening public diplomacy [JB emphasis] objectives of building trust and credibility.Unfortunately, this setback is part of a pattern of failure in Chinese media capacity building since the turn of the 21st century. In 2002, China designated..