China Central Television (CCTV) was founded 65 years ago, in 1958, holding a unique position as the PRC’s only authorized national broadcaster. Currently, the CCTV runs over 40 channels and generates 300000 hours of annual programming.
CCTV’s influence extends beyond its programming, as it maintains close ties with the various units of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Therefore, the party-state determines the type of information and news accessible to the PRC’s 1.4 billion citizens through CCTV.
The current president of Central Television, Shen Haixiong, is not only a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) but also holds the position of an alternate member of the Central Committee. Prior to his current role, he headed the propaganda department in Guangdong Province.
Consequently, it is not surprising that CCTV is the most influential news and propaganda organization, not only voicing the CCP’s viewpoints but also incorporating “investigative” shows that still serve the party’s interests while heavily influencing public opinion.
CCTV is known for many problematic reasons, and particularly noteworthy is the series of public confessions. The CCTV is famous for airing confessions from suspects in high-profile cases, often before any formal charges or arrests. These televised confessions have effectively halted public discussions critical of government officials and influential business figures. According to Fu Hualing, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong, this pattern reflects a strategy to silence debates by swiftly declaring an influential person’s guilt through CCTV, especially when public sentiment is divided and online discussions are closely monitored. For instance, in 2013, CCTV depicted the admission of guilt by Chen Yongzhou, a 27-year-old reporter for the News Express in Guangzhou. He asserted that due to greed and fame, he took bribes and prepared alarming stories about the misconduct related to the PRC’s second-largest heavy equipment manufacturer, Zoomlion.
An important component of CCTV, airtime goes to anti-Western propaganda, rumors and disinformation. Accordingly, all TV stations under its control actively serve this purpose. This became especially visible from the prism of the Russia-Ukraine war and Covid-19. For instance, the PRC’s state broadcaster, CCTV, has been promoting the Russian government’s allegations that the United States is supporting the development of biological weapons in Ukraine. According to the bioweapons lab conspiracy theory used by the PRC and Russia, the US and Ukraine are working together to attack Russia.
The same propaganda narratives were aired during the COVID-19 crisis. CCTV website claimed in 2020 that the U.S. military-operated biological laboratories that conduct covert development of biological weapons span the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Africa and extend across 27 former Soviet republics, including Georgia and Ukraine. More precisely, based on their article, the U.S. possesses a research network comprising 15 biological laboratories in Ukraine alone, in addition to 3 laboratories and 11 smaller institutes in Georgia.
Hence, the collaboration between any Georgian TV channel and China Central Television (CCTV), the principal propaganda apparatus of the CCP, is entirely inappropriate. This partnership raises concerns as it could potentially expose the local media outlets to disinformation, inadvertently contribute to the dissemination of fake news, and consequently pose a threat not only to the national security of the country but also jeopardize its foreign policy objectives of aligning with Western alliances.
