World needs a better understanding of China, “Voice of China” can help

The new CCTV tower in Beijing

Recently, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued a plan on deepening the reform of the Party and state institutions. The plan includes the creation of a new central radio and television network that will be known under the name “Voice of China.” It is the combination of China Central Television (including China Global Television Network), China National Radio, and China Radio International, and it will serve as an institution directly under the State Council.

“Central Radio and Television Network has centralized the rich resources and influence of China Central Television, China National Radio, and China Radio International. It will give full play to their respective strengths and leverage their advantages,” Central Kitchen, the media hub of People’s Daily, commented.

The CCTV HQs

In a congratulatory message to launch of CGTN on Dec. 31, 2016, Chinese President Xi Jinping said, “The world today is an open world, and today China is an open China. The relationship between China and the world is undergoing historic changes. China needs a better understanding of the world and the world needs a better understanding of China.”

President Xi urged China’s media networks to tell the China story well and spread China’s voice, so that the world can see a multidimensional and colorful China. He said the new media outlet should present China as a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and an upholder of the international order, so as to work for the efforts to build a community of common destiny.

The “Voice of China” can help achieve this goal.

The timing couldn’t be better. The formation of “Voice of China” comes at a time when Western countries, including the United States, are hyping up the “China threat,” highlighting the need for a “super voice” to drown out the anti-China propaganda and give people a clearer picture of China.

For example, Ted Yoho, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, recently conducted a hearing on China’s “foreign influence operations,” where he singled out China as a “threat” to America. At the hearing, Shanthi Kalathil, Director of the International Forum for Democratic Studies at the National Endowment for Democracy, a U.S. organization that has promoted the “sharp power” concept plaguing Western discourse, echoed the concern, calling on the West to counter the “threat” posed by China.

The CNR tower

These days, such Cold War thinking is rampant in the West. On the same day of the hearing, U.S. senators Marco Rubio and Tom Cotton and U.S Congressman Joe Wilson, for example, introduced the Foreign Influence Transparency Act in an effort to undermine Confucius Institutes in America, claiming that the purpose of the institutes are to distort academic discourse on China rather than teach Chinese language and Chinese culture.

All of which is reason for China to want to ensure its voice is heard loud and clear around the world. China has much to add to the world conversation. “Voice of China” will give people a clearer picture of Chinese life, of China’s unique development path, and of what China’s rise means for the world, as well as broaden understanding and friendship between China and the world.

The CRI tower