Format Tabloid Publisher People's Daily | Owner(s) People's Daily Editor Hu Xijin | |
 | ||
Type Daily newspaper (Weekdays with a weekend edition) Founded 1993, (Chinese edition)
2009, (English Edition) | ||
The Global Times (simplified Chinese: 环球时报; traditional Chinese: 寰球時報; pinyin: Huánqiú Shíbào) is a daily Chinese newspaper under the auspices of the People's Daily newspaper, focusing on international issues from a communist Chinese perspective. The Global Times differentiates itself from other Chinese newspapers in part through its more populist approach to journalism, coupled with a tendency to court controversy.
Contents
History
Established as a Chinese language publication in 1993, an English language version was launched on the 20 April 2009 as part of a Chinese campaign costing 45 billion yuan ($6.6 billion) to compete with overseas media.
While the Chinese-language version strongly focuses on international issues, the English-language version reports more on China's domestic events.
Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of both Chinese and English versions, stated that he expected it to make a loss of 20 million yuan in the first year.
The English-language version of the newspaper also has launched two local sections, Metro Beijing since September 2009 and Metro Shanghai since April 2010, in the two largest Chinese metropolises, in an effort to provide more information to local readers.
The Global Times launched its US edition on Feb. 20, 2013. It is the first daily newspaper from China to launch a US edition simultaneously in Chinese and English. The US edition of the Global Times has 24 pages in its English version and 16 pages in its Chinese version.
Editorial stance
Although the Chinese-language version has been accused of having a strong pro-government slant, and of attracting a strongly nationalistic readership, the English-language version has been described by one of its editors as taking a less strident approach.
Controversies
According to Richard Burger, a former editor at Global Times, in the wake of the arrest of Ai Weiwei, the Chinese staff of the Global Times were ordered to conduct an "astroturfing" campaign against Ai Weiwei in favour of the Chinese government's criticism of Ai as a "maverick".
Despite its official stance some reports and editorials by the Global Times are more neutral and cover more content that other Chinese media typically refrain from touching. The Global Times and Beijing Youth Daily were the only two media that reported the Ferrari car crash of Ling Jihua’s son, though briefly and the online articles soon deleted, in March 2012.
Following Japan’s 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the Global Times published series of comments and advertisements in support of Japan. This directly resulted in conclusion by Japanese media that Chinese in favor of Japan were prevailing.
The Global Times also published articles that argue there is no resurgence of Japanese militarism and China is misperceiving Japan. For this reason the Global Times has been repetitively criticized by leftist scholars. The Global Times sometimes hold different stances from other major Chinese media. When the People’s Daily stressed tighter control of the Internet, an editorial of the Global Times denounced acts to impose unreasonable control onto the people, commonly seen as an act of standing up to the People’s Daily.
Hong Kong
On 5 June 2016 Lancôme cancelled a promotional concert by Hong Kong pro-democracy singer Denise Ho that was scheduled to be held on 19 June in Sheung Wan. This action was taken in response to a boycott campaign launched by the Communist Party-controlled Global Times, which denigrated the Cantopop star for supposedly advocating Hong Kong and Tibet independence. Lancôme also added, in a Facebook post, that Ho is not a spokesperson for the brand. In addition to her singing career, Ho is an outspoken advocate for democracy in Hong Kong. The Tibet allegation appeared to have stemmed from Ho's May 2016 meeting with the Dalai Lama. The cancellation drew a heavy backlash in Hong Kong. Some Lancôme shops in Hong Kong were shut down during the protests. Listerine, another brand that Ho represents, retained the singer despite the fact that the Global Times also criticized that company hiring Ho as its public face in Hong Kong.
Australia
The Global Times has been strident in its description of Australia as a paper cat in relation to the South China Sea, and offshore prison in relation to an Olympic swimmer being identified as a former drug cheat.
United States
In response to Rex Tillerson's comments on blocking access to man-made islands in the South China Sea, the Global Times warned of a "large-scale war" between the U.S. and China, saying: "Unless Washington plans to wage a large-scale war in the South China Sea, any other approaches to prevent Chinese access to the islands will be foolish."