cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/10554582

The Prague High Court is currently considering whether to keep holding Yang Yiming, a Chinese national who had been working as Prague correspondent for Guangming Daily, a newspaper controlled by the CCP’s [Chinese Communist Party’s] Central Propaganda Department, in custody.

The Czech Security Information Service (BIS) identified Yang as an operative of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), alleging he used his cover as a journalist to collect compromising information on Czech politicians, particularly those supportive of closer ties with Taiwan.

The case points to a broader pattern documented by RSF, notably in the China edition of The Propaganda Monitor: the Chinese regime views journalism — at home and abroad — as a means to further the state’s goals. In Czechia, this notably translates into Beijing’s attempts to insert its narrative into the media landscape of this European Union (EU) member state.

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“China’s media influence apparatus in Czechia operates across multiple fronts simultaneously, from state-backed content disguised as independent programming to influencers recruited to relay carefully curated narratives," says Aleksandra Bielakowska, Advocacy Manager at the Asia-Pacific Bureau of Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

“When propaganda uses media outlets and online personalities to appear credible, it contaminates the information space and blurs the line between independent journalism and foreign influence. This is not soft power — it is information manipulation. Democracies like Czechia must strengthen their resilience against the expansion of China’s emerging global media order and the spread of regime-backed propaganda.”

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According to the study by Czech researcher Ivana Karásková published by the Central European Digital Media Observatory in 2023, the programme was broadcast six times per week on the Czech commercial stations Radio HEY and Radio Color. “Barevný svět” covered, according to the official description, “travel, history, culture, […] and other points of interest, particularly from the Far East.” However, it focused almost exclusively on China, presenting Chinese government policy in a positive light, and episodes mentioning Tibet or Taiwan, for example, adhered to official Chinese narratives. Over a thousand episodes aired between 2019 and April 2023, without any disclosure to listeners of Radio HEY and Radio Color that the content was co-produced by a Chinese state broadcaster.

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The official website of CRI stated the programme had been prepared with Radio HEY and the consulting company Phoenix Amber, a firm managed by a translator who, in 2022, was listed on CRI’s Czech website as a Prague correspondent. The partnership exemplifies the CCP’s strategy of “borrowing a boat to go out to sea” — a term used by Czech researchers — meaning it uses local media outlets as proxies for spreading its narratives abroad.

The CCP also creates links with less credible outlets. The site iportal24.cz — listed as one of 20 Czech sites that cite Russian media and regurgitate their narratives, according to a report by Ukraine-oriented outlets Insight News and TV Espreso — has cooperated directly with the China Media Group (CMG), the parent structure of CRI. These actions include co-organising public discussions that involve the Czech-Chinese Mixed Chamber of Commerce, with speakers from CMG.

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Of course, China’s propaganda strategy in Czechia has spread into social media. A 2025 investigation by the Czech outlet Refresher found that multiple Czech influencers have been producing content with Czech-speaking Chinese social media accounts since at least 2022. For example, Pepa Zhang (26K followers on Instagram) and Lada Wang (74K followers on Instagram) reach out to Czech influencers to collaborate on “lifestyle content.” But analyst Ivana Karásková from the NGO Association for International Affairs identified both as prominent Czech-language faces of CRI, which oversees the editorial guidelines of their content.

In addition to content partnerships, the CCP’s propaganda strategy relies heavily on press trips. In late 2024, for example, Czech TikToker Jan “Honzi” Michálek, who has approximately one million followers, publicly described a trip to China, which was fully funded by a “random” Chinese agency that reached out via email. He travelled to East Turkestan — a region Beijing refers to as “Xinjiang province” where the United Nations has documented mass human rights abuses against the Uyghur minority — accompanied by a Chinese-speaking crew filming him for Chinese television.

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Czechia ranks 11th out of 180 countries and territories in the 2026 RSF World Press Freedom Index. China remains the world’s largest jailer of journalists, with 124 currently detained, and ranks 178th out of 180 countries and territories in the Index.

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