Last week, Semafor’s Ben Smith argued that China’s global influence campaign is succeeding, as the country embraces new forms of media while the US pulls back on global soft-power initiatives. But questions surrounding a Chinese initiative for US influencers suggest those efforts may have their limits.
In June, Chinese state media announced a program that would pay for US creators with more than 300,000 followers to visit five Chinese cities, collaborate with local counterparts, and show off the “real China.” I was fascinated by this program as soon as it was announced, and was eager for updates on which American creators might go, what kind of content they would create, and how much creative freedom they would have.
Chinese state media said the trips were on for July 14-23 — but nearly one month later, there’s no evidence the program happened as scheduled.
While the original announcement promised livestreams, short-form videos, and a highlight reel, searches in traditional Chinese media and on social media platforms turned up no results or content that Beijing would’ve, in theory, been happy to broadcast to the world. It’s unclear who, if anyone, may have been tapped to take part.
