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WASHINGTON — Each year, China’s government spends billions on foreign propaganda and until recently those efforts were largely driven by departments in the central government and state media. Now, a growing number of cities are joining that effort, with the China Media Project, an independent research group, recently documenting at least 23 foreign propaganda centers at China's city and provincial levels. China experts say the move makes sense because it allows Beijing to draw on more resources and create tailored messages at a time when the country’s image is facing serious challenges over concerns that range from trade to human rights as well its handling of the COVID pandemic. “The battle for discourse power requires all hands on deck,” Jonathan Sullivan, a China specialist at the University of Nottingham, told VOA. “In every sector, China brings its full capacity — institutional, financial and human resources — to the fight, so it is normal” for Beijing to do the same with propaganda, Sullivan said. Joshua Kurlantzick, author of Beijing’s Global Media Offensive, said this is one of the many attempts to spread the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, propaganda. “If one doesn’t work, China has so many efforts they can try others,” he told VOA in a written response. The centers are popping up across the country and the most recent was on June 7, when China’s northeastern city of Tianjin established the Tianjin International Communication Center, or TICC. According to the city’s state-run newspaper, the Tianjin Daily, the new center will “use lenses and pens to demonstrate a lively Tianjin to the outside world” and “serve the country’s overall public diplomacy.” The establishment of the TICC follows the formation on May 31 of Zhejiang International Communication Center. That provincial-level center, according to the China Public Diplomacy Association, will “showcase China’s governance through the Zhejiang model … and allow the world to truly understand China.” Since 2023, the spread of global propaganda centers at the local level began expanding rapidly. On July 3, 2023, Shenzhen formed the SZMG International Communication Center. A few days later, eastern Jiangsu province established Jiangsu International Communication Center on July 12. Shanghai joined in October 2023 with SMG International, a city-level external communication base dubbed as “a video window for Shanghai’s city image.” On January 6, 2024, the northern province of Hebei announced its own Great Wall International Communication Center. As of this month, China has established 23 provincial-level external communication centers, tasked to remake China’s approach of delivering its message externally. Gary Rawnsley, a professor of public diplomacy at the University of Lincoln, said these provincial-level centers indicate China has begun to realize that it cannot carry out the same propaganda to all foreigners. “I would say that this is a clever and strategic move because it indicates that China is understanding the need to tailor its messages for particular audiences,” he said. “When we look at the activities of some of these centers, they are very much oriented toward the needs and interests of people in neighboring countries.” Tailored for its audiences "Tailored" and "targeted" are key words used by provincial-level international communication centers, or ICCs. An article by Qiushi Journal, the leading official theoretical journal for the Chinese Communist Party, says the centers are “developed based on local propaganda needs” and will become “a new force” for China’s global propaganda. The Jiangsu International Communication Center has active accounts in seven languages on major social platforms that are blocked in China, including X, formerly known as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. The director of the Hubei Communication Center told a local newspaper that in addition to making full use of social media accounts, the center has adopted a "one place, one policy" approach to tailor the content according to their audiences. "For example, we focus on football programs to Brazil and Argentina, and culinary shows to Southeast Asia and Italy," said the center’s director, Cao Xiqing. Not all the centers were established over the past year. China’s Yunnan province, which borders Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, formed the South and Southeast Asian Media Network on May 31, 2022. According to the Information Office of the Yunnan Government, this is "the only international communication center in the country specially designed for audiences in South Asia and Southeast Asia.” The regional network publishes journals in Burmese, Thai, Cambodian and Lao. In addition to distributing its content on social media, it also has web pages in seven languages — Burmese, Lao, Thai, Khmer, English, Vietnamese and Chinese. Soft power focus The local ICCs focus on China’s soft power. Rawnsley from the University of Lincoln said this is deliberate. “It seems to be that at the central level, they are moving toward a much more political style of programming and letting these regional centers soften their programming for particular audiences and focusing much more on culture, tourism and history,” he told VOA. VOA examined recent tweets by the Henan International Communication Center and found topics that included night scenes of its capital, Zhengzhou, foreigners learning Chinese medicine, Henan Opera and Shaolin Kung Fu. The Henan ICC also has a promotional video of the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing’s massive global infrastructure project. The ICCs also host various activities. For example, the Hubei ICC held an event named “The Story of the Communist Party of China” in May 2023, inviting foreigners in China to learn the history of the CCP. Rawnsley said this highlights how everything the regional centers are doing is not completely autonomous. “Everything will be following particular guidelines that are laid down in Beijing,” he said. Limited effect Despite their rapid formations, these centers have not attracted much traffic. The Henan ICC, which joined X in November 2022, currently has 19,000 followers. The Jinan ICC’s X account has around 55,000 followers since it was established in April 2022. China has poured enormous resources into its external propaganda, yet people’s attitudes toward China have worsened in recent years, especially since the 2020 coronavirus outbreak. A poll by the Pew Research Center in May showed that 81% of Americans have an unfavorable view of China, including 43% who hold a very unfavorable view of the country. A 2022 poll by Pew that surveyed people in 19 countries found 68% of the respondents had an unfavorable impression of Beijing. The research organization found these unfavorable opinions are related to concerns about China’s policies on human rights. China has received heavy criticism for its strict policies in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, as well as its aggression toward self-ruling island Taiwan, which China claims as a breakaway province. The CCP leadership denies all these accusations. Rawnsley said the problem China faces is much more than just its presentation. “China keeps adding more and more platforms, but it doesn't change the message. It doesn't change what people know is going on inside China,” he said. “At the end of the day, policy and behavior determines credibility,” he said. “Actions speak louder than words.”

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Georgians are preparing for elections this year amid fears in the West that the government is straying from the country’s ambition to join the European Union. The nation appears to be caught in a struggle to reconcile its turbulent past with its West-aligned future. Henry Ridgwell reports.

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Abuja, Nigeria — Regional security analysts are warning Nigerian authorities to take caution following a new report that armed militants operating in Africa's volatile Sahel region have a found their way into northwest Nigeria through the borders of the Republic of Benin. Wednesday's security report, "Dangerous Liaisons" by the Dutch research think tank Clingendael Institute, is the latest indicator that militants are migrating from the Sahel to wealthier coastal nations in the region.  The 81-page report says extremists believed to be linked with al-Qaida in the last year have migrated from the Republic of Benin and settled in northern Nigeria, including around Kainji National Park.  If not addressed, the trend could escalate attacks in both countries already struggling with lethal violence from  groups, the report indicates. Security analyst Chidi Omeje said the discovery is no surprise.  "It's not surprising if such happens, because of course you know the nature of our very porous borders," said Omeje. "Those ones coming through the Sahel to me are purely for economic pondering, I'm not sure they're ideological based. [But] it's a dire situation, it's quite concerning, it's frightening."  The report also says the search for economic opportunity and high poverty levels contribute to the recruitment and expansion of various armed groups in the region.  Africa's Sahel — the vast expanse south of the Sahara Desert — is a global terrorist epicenter, according to the 2023 World Terrorism Index.  Experts say the wave of coups in the region in recent years has affected its security situation and response to regionally based militants.  In April, Nigeria hosted more than 400 delegates from across Africa at a summit on counterterrorism.  In an address at the summit, Nigerian National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu spoke about factors driving terrorism. "Terrorism in Africa is driven by factors such as foreign terrorist fighters, organized crime, prolonged conflict, drug trafficking, illicit arms trade, high youth unemployment and inadequate policing," said Ribadu. "Effective strategies require comprehensive approaches that address these drivers, promote socioeconomic development, enhance governance, resolve conflict and strengthen regional and international corporation."  Security analyst Senator Iroegbu said local authorities need to secure their country's borders while planning for more robust regional action.  "There's a lot of volatility on the northern fringes of Nigeria," said Iroegbu. "The insecurity is a fertile ground for all these groups to easily crisscross the boundaries and establish themselves. These jihadist groups ... their target is also to move to the coastal side of Africa. It's now left for the security agents and Nigerian government, how they respond to this. In fact, a contingency plan should've been in place all along."  This week, Nigeria announced plans to acquire 50 military aircraft to combat terrorism especially in the country's northwest region.  But analysts warn that unless those plans are supported by schemes to alleviate poverty and reduce vulnerability of locals, the problem may persist. 

After being held up at gunpoint live on air as violence swept Ecuador, journalist Jose Luis Calderon needed to find trauma support and safety. Now the journalist is seeking asylum in Miami. For VOA News, Cristina Caicedo Smit reports.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

The U.S. Resolve Tibet Act accuses China of “suppressing the ability of the Tibetan people to preserve their religion,” a claim supported by U.N. experts, Human Rights groups and media reports.

Ukraine launches attack into Russia targeting oil and fuel depots and military installations. Benjamin Netanyahu in a political war of words with the Biden administration as tension on the border with Lebanon is on the rise. Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is playing an ever-increasing role in modern life and politics. South Korea says it might send weapons to Ukraine, but who is the message really for? And a look at US policy in Africa.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

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Going into a third year of war, life without clean water has become routine for nearly half a million residents of Ukraine’s frontline city of Mykolaiv. At the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Russian forces destroyed the water distribution system. As Lesia Bakalets reports, the city has been looking for ways to restore it since then. Video: Vladyslav Smilianets

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Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, U.S. humanitarian group Project HOPE has provided aid to Ukrainian health clinics and residents of the country’s frontline towns and villages. Yaroslava Movchan has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Videographer: Dmytro Hlushko.

The U.S. and U.N. condemned Rwanda and sanctioned the M23 rebels it backs for committing widespread human rights abuses. The 2010 Dodd-Frank law bans U.S. companies from funding armed groups or human rights abusers by buying minerals from them.