- [Narrator] On China's version
of Twitter called Weibo,
news of George Floyd's killing,
and the protests were
trending with these hashtags.
(piano playing)
Well, on the Chinese version
of TikTok called Douyin,
videos like this were being widely shared.
They were created by
two inescapable accounts
on both platforms.
The Chinese state media publication,
Peoples' Daily and
television network, CCTV.
- [Maria Repnikova] The actual
violence that has sparked up
both the protest movement,
but also the aftermath.
The looting, the rioting,
has been a really catching the attention
of Chinese state media
in part to show that,
the protests in the United States
are not particularly peaceful.
- [Narrator] At a time when
global backlash builds against
China over Coronavirus,
and Beijing's relationship
with the US grows increasingly strained.
- China's coverup of the Wuhan
virus allowed the disease
to spread all over the world.
- [Narrator] Events like the
protests and the pandemic
have given the Chinese
propaganda machine a lot
to work with.
Here's a look at the narrative
that's being crafted and why
rallying citizens at home
is critical to Beijing's power.
- [Man] No justice.
- [Crowd] No peace.
- [Narrator] Though the
demonstrations in the US
have been largely peaceful, inside China,
the protests have mainly
been portrayed like this.
(solemn music)
- [Maria Repnikova] Some
of it is propaganda,
but some of it is also just
reporting the actual news,
shows to the Chinese public
that the US is far from perfect.
- [Narrator] Maria Repnikova
is a Political Scientist
who studies Chinese propaganda.
- [Maria Repnikova] It's just
a really kind of a huge amount
of information that's coming
from the US media scape
on the protest movement into the
Chinese domestic media sphere.
So it's been really impressive to watch.
- [Narrator] Repnikova says
state media often choose
the most violent scenes
and use dramatic music.
(dramatic music).
President Trump has also been a gold mine.
- And I will deploy the
United States military.
I hope that you also
use our national guard.
Call me, we'll be ready for them so fast.
- [Maria Repnikova] The US
president has condemned them,
and kind of shown disdain
for those protesters.
He's even threatened to
use the military force
in response to those movements.
- [Lady] (foreign language).
- [Maria Repnikova] That
story really tarnishes
the image of the United
States as a peaceful
or a legitimate democracy.
- China ruthlessly imposes Communism.
- [Maria Repnikova] And especially the US
as a critic of human
rights violations in China.
- [Narrator] Repnikova
says the US protests
have also come at an
opportune time for Beijing.
- [Maria Repnikova] It helps
to kind of take the attention
span away from what went wrong in China
to what's happening around the world,
especially in America.
- [Narrator] In the early
stages of the pandemic,
as hospitals became
overwhelmed and there was
little information about the new virus,
Beijing turn to a trusted strategy.
Suppress any critical news coverage.
- [Fu King-Wa] He called
(mumbles) officers knew
in advance about all the risks,
and the impacted nature of the virus.
So the question about
why early warning like
(mumbling) a center.
- [Narrator] Fu King-Wa has
been tracking censored posts
on Weibo since 2011.
He says Chinese censors
covered up negative reports
from citizen journalists
to whistleblower doctors.
Meanwhile, state media
content about China's prompt
response, like two
hospitals that were built
in under two weeks, or Premier
Li Keqiang's visit to Wuhan
circulated widely on Weibo or Douyin.
Fu's research found that around two out
of 1000 posts related to the outbreak
on Weibo were censored.
- [Fu King-Wa] The state media
controls large amounts of
(mumbles).
So it basically occupies
the majority of numbers.
- [Narrator] Censorship
spiked during key events like
the death of a whistleblower doctor,
or when the Chinese CDC published
a paper confirming human
to human transmission, which
sparked an online debate
about whether the government knew earlier.
Another common tactic
state media have used
is gathering foreign voices
to give Beijing credibility.
- [Man] I welcome it all.
They did everything right.
- [Maria Repnikova] Interviews
with various individuals
who have really good
reputation with Western media,
Presidents of different countries,
and the heads of
international organizations.
All of them kind of suggesting
that the US hasn't done that well,
but China has been more responsible.
- [Lady] (foreign language).
- [Narrator] While gauging
real sentiment in China's
state controlled online
environment is difficult,
some of the comments
under these posts show
Beijing's narrative
appears to be convincing.
And it's appearances that
matters says Repnikova because
this type of nationalism
is the point of propaganda.
And one way for China to
secure its legitimacy at home,
as tensions outside the mainland increase.
- [Man] (foreign language)
- [Crowd] (claps) (cheers).
