- [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).