Pen Names and Power Plays, Behind a China-Korea Media Event, and a Talent Visa Backlash
These stories and more — plus a canceled play in Hong Kong — in this latest edition of the Lingua Sinica newsletter.
Welcome back to Lingua Sinica.
This week, the news in China is dominated by the Chinese Communist Party’s Fourth Plenum — which generally means heaps of talk, piles of speculation (Xi succession plans?), and little concrete information. We choose instead to focus on some of the more interesting structural aspects of the official messaging (see REDLINES below).
Other stories you don’t want to miss here include signs in Hong Kong that the atmosphere of media restraint is not worsening per se, just normalizing, and our unpacking of a media forum in South Korea’s capital that is not really about media at all (except as tools of diplomacy). The latter includes some perspective from one of the participants.
Finally, I want to share the news that we are preparing at CMP for the launch of Tian Jian Field School (在田間學), a Chinese-language journalism and media teaching platform linked to Tian Jian, our outlet for discussion in Chinese of all things media. Our first public course, on OSINT reporting techniques, is scheduled for this coming Sunday, October 26. If you’re up for a learning experience in Chinese, led by Muyi Xiao (肖慕漪), an experienced reporter and senior fellow at ChinaFile, please register here. And do share with others.
Last but not least, stay tuned to tian-jian.org for the imminent launch of the Tian Jian website, with great content and discussion in Chinese — and more opportunities for learning. Now, on to the newsletter.
Enjoy.
David L. Bandurski
CMP Executive Director
REDLINES
As the Fourth Plenum convenes this week, the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper leads the propaganda charge — deploying pseudonymous commentaries and reverential coverage to manage economic expectations and glorify the leadership of Xi Jinping.
Holy Utterances, Cadres
A two-page spread across pages 6-7 of Monday’s People’s Daily offered near-religious reverence for Xi Jinping as the leadership readied for the Fourth Plenum. It was a reminder from the outlet that the session is as much about pomp and power projection as it is about policy — even as succession questions quietly loom. The spread, called “Looking Back on the 14th Five-Year Plan, Recalling the General Secretary’s Words,” was a greatest hits of Xi pronouncements over the past five years — lionizing the achievements made “under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era,” the general secretary’s legacy defining “banner term” (旗帜语).
Talking in Tongues
Crucial to understanding what is being said in the state press around the plenum is understanding exactly who is saying it. This past week, the People’s Daily has deployed a parade of pseudonymous bylines standing in for Party writing groups and ministries. On yesterday’s front page we had a long-winded meditation by Ren Ping (任平) — a homophone for “People’s Daily commentary” — that drums away on the word “substance” or “pragmatism” (实) to make the point that China focuses on concrete results over empty talk. Just above was a contribution from Jin Sheping (金社评), the pen name used by the People’s Daily‘s Economic and Social Affairs Department. The commentary asserts that the achievements of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) validate Xi Jinping’s economic theories, and it concludes that the upcoming 15th plan will make “decisive progress” toward full modernization, concluding: “The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is unstoppable!”
Not had enough of Jin Sheping? The writer who isn’t a writer is back on the front page today — asserting China’s economy demonstrates resilience and vitality through innovation, green development, and openness under Xi’s guidance.
Appearing on the front page Monday was Ren Zhongping (任仲平), a pen name for “important” commentaries representing central CCP views — the name being a homophone for “People’s Daily Important Commentary” — that come from the commentary department of the People’s Daily. Ren Zhongping extolled Xi Jinping and the CCP’s achievements, praising “Chinese-style modernization” (中国式现代化) as both crucial to China’s success and a global model for sustainable development.
The examples march on. Just before the weekend, the newspaper ran a commentary penned by Guo Jiping (国纪平), marking it as a high-level foreign affairs commentary reflecting the central leadership’s view — in this case, that China’s peaceful development proves its commitment to global stability and multilateralism.
For past CMP insights on pen names, a strange and telling character of Chinese politics, see the following:
Manufacturing Morale
The major focus this week, of course, is the direction of China’s economy and the unveiling of the next five-year plan (2026-2030). This is happening against a backdrop of economic and political uncertainty — which makes manufacturing morale also a key item on the agenda. This month, the People’s Daily published eight commentaries under the pen name “Zhong Caiwen” (钟才文) — a collaboration between the Central Propaganda Department and the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission. The commentaries repeatedly urged readers, including Party insiders, to “believe in China” and “believe in tomorrow.”
Are readers likely to find the repetition convincing — or concerning?
A commentary published over the weekend in Qiushi, the Chinese Communist Party’s top theoretical journal, suggested quite plainly that public opinion needed to be twisted into shape on economic issues. The piece emphasized that “correct public opinion guidance” (舆论导向) — Party parlance for media control dating back to the Tiananmen Massacre — is necessary to stabilize market expectations amid economic pressures. The Qiushi commentary argues that mainstream media (Party-run, in this context) must counter “erroneous theories” (谬论) about China’s economy and help the public form “positive expectations” (积极预期) about future development.
As we assess signals emerging in China, we must always bear in mind the vast system of media and public opinion manipulation that lies beneath.
CONTROVERSIES
Paparazzi Postscript
A media ethics scandal in Taiwan reaches its conclusion with disciplinary actions, but leaves lingering questions about oversight failures.
In the last edition of this newsletter, we looked at an unfolding media scandal in Taiwan involving journalist Hsieh Hsing-en (謝幸恩), who allegedly served as a ghostwriter and paparazzi recruiter for Taiwan People’s Party chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) while employed by the state-run Central News Agency (CNA).
On October 16, CNA released the results of its own internal investigation. Despite Hsieh’s resignation in late September, CNA issued her two major demerits for violations of the agency’s code of journalistic ethics, work regulations, and guidelines on outside employment — infractions, it said, that “caused significant harm” to the organization. Multiple supervisors also received disciplinary action ranging from written warnings to minor demerits for negligent oversight. The case raises uncomfortable questions about how Hsieh’s activities went undetected for years despite earlier complaints, and whether structural weaknesses in editorial supervision enabled the breach.
SOURCE CODE
Mixing Media and Geopolitics
Systematic monitoring at Lingua Sinica sheds light on China’s consistent use of bilateral media events to advance its foreign policy goals.
Co-hosted in Seoul last week by South Korea’s Maekyung Media Group and the CCP’s flagship People’s Daily, the 2025 China-South Korea Media Cooperation Forum was an opportunity, by all accounts, to avoid substantive media issues in favor of China’s foreign policy interests. The agenda at the forum remained solidly on bilateral relations and trade, for which the media were treated as compliant tools. It’s a pattern that remains consistent for media engagements in which China is involved.
Ryu Yang, a Global Times editor, was quoted by the Maeil Business Newspaper — a Maekyung subsidiary — stressing that “it is important for the media of both countries to deliver good stories,” echoing Xi’s policy to “tell China’s stories well.” Dankook University professor Kim Jin-ho (金珍镐) was quoted in the People’s Daily as remarking that media should “channel public opinion toward positive interaction” (引导舆论正向互动) — a sentiment uncomfortably overlapping with CCP media control dictates against the backdrop of South Korea’s relatively vibrant press. Kim confirmed to CMP by e-mail that his Seoul remarks were “carefully coordinated in advance with reporters from both the Maeil Business Newspaper and the People’s Daily,” suggesting an effort to pre-manage the public diplomacy aspects of the meet.
Coverage of the event by China’s state media lionized a public opinion survey purporting to show that Asia-Pacific populations view the region as “an interdependent community with common interests and a shared future” — language directly echoing Xi Jinping’s signature “community of common destiny for mankind” (人類命運共同體). Who did the survey? Our question exactly. It so happens it was conducted by the International News Department of the People’s Daily, putting it directly under the thumb of the Party’s Central Propaganda Department.
Explore this engagement activity and its related entities at Lingua Sinica.
“The content was carefully coordinated in advance with reporters from both the Maeil Business Newspaper and the People’s Daily.”
SPOTLIGHT
Shadows of Infiltration
An in-depth report examines how Chinese espionage operations in Taiwan erode trust across society, from the military on down.
Taiwan has faced a surge of national security cases in recent months — involving retired generals, political party staffers, religious temples, and civil defense groups. As China’s tactics of infiltration constantly evolve, Taiwan struggles to keep pace. In a major investigation this month, The Reporter (報導者), one of the country’s top independent journalism outlets, reveals how espionage is not just an intelligence war, but a war of attrition on social trust. When trust becomes a weapon, how can Taiwan defend against invisible threats woven into everyday life? This story is a must-read.
Backlash on China’s Talent Gambit
A recent podcast episode at Initium Media explores how China’s new visa policy for foreign tech workers has met with xenophobic anxiety and an ongoing domestic unemployment crisis.
On October 1, just as the Trump administration in the United States tightened restrictions on H-1B visas, China launched its own visa for foreign tech talent. The K-visa is a rare category allowing job seekers to enter without employer sponsorship, and Chinese state media quickly touted it as part of the “talent for a strong nation” (人才强国) strategy. But back home, Chinese were not so sure. The policy prompted a fierce public backlash that exposed deep anxieties and raw nerves about foreigners “stealing opportunities” — particularly as youth unemployment in China reaches new highs. In a recent podcast, following on a related report, Singapore-based Initium Media (端傳媒) examined why China is opening its doors precisely when its labor market is most vulnerable.
SHORT STORIES
| Hong Kong |
Feeling the Pulse
The Pulse HK (追光者), an overseas independent Hong Kong media outlet formed by merging Chaser News (追新聞) and Photon Media (光傳媒), officially launched on Monday this week. The organization promises 24-hour news coverage for Hong Kong people worldwide, with teams in Taiwan, the UK, and North America. Editor-in-chief Wu Lik Hon (胡力漢) acknowledged that crowdfunding raised only enough for six months of operation. He appealed for monthly subscriptions to sustain the venture. To learn more about the outlet, read our report on the Lingua Sinica website. To support the outlet, visit their page at GoFundMe.
Normalized Restrictions
The Hong Kong Journalists Association published its latest press freedom index on October 17, showing journalists’ ratings rebounded from a historic low in 2023 to 28.9 points, ending a five-year decline. The association stressed this does not reflect improved conditions but rather journalists adapting to normalized restrictions. “Media self-censorship” scored lowest at 1.8 points. True to form, the pro-Beijing outlet Ta Kung Wen Wei criticized the methodology as unscientific, claiming the association cannot represent the profession.
The Elephant is Here
The stage play We Are Gay (我們最快樂) by Hong Kong playwright Chong Mui-ngam (莊梅岩) was canceled before its scheduled performance by the city’s West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, a statutory body managing Hong Kong’s major arts and cultural facilities. The authority claimed it received complaints alleging the play “promotes confrontation” (宣揚對抗) and “slanders Hong Kong” (詆毀香港). On October 18, the pro-Beijing Wen Wei Po (文匯報) published two articles criticizing the production. Chong shared the cancellation notice on Facebook, writing in English in reference to the looming reality of political censorship in Hong Kong: “The elephant. Is here.”
| China |
AI Users Surge
According to a report released over the weekend by the China Internet Network Information Center, China had 515 million generative AI users as of June 2025 — a figure that doubled within six months from 249 million in December 2024. The nationwide user penetration rate now stands at 36.5 percent. What can we glean from this statistic beyond the numbers? China’s measure of digital development has now fundamentally shifted. In years past, the measure has moved on from simple internet access rates, to social media uptake. The new gold standard is generative AI adoption.
Pearls of Propaganda
Illustrating how China’s southern cities are playing a growing role in national propaganda efforts, the sixth annual Overseas Chinese New Media Forum (第六届海外华文新媒体论坛) was held in the city of Zhuhai last week, drawing together — according to state media reports — nearly 100 overseas Chinese-language media representatives from five continents. One highlight of the event, hosted by the overseas edition of the People’s Daily, was the formation of the Overseas Chinese New Media Alliance (海外華文新媒體聯盟), a content syndication network centered in Zhuhai that is designed to provide “normalized and institutionalized” (常態化/機制化) distribution of Chinese state media content through international channels. The event received, unsurprisingly, strong coverage from government-run Chinese media in Hong Kong.
