A certain American-right-wing propagandist might be interested in this image of a certain Chinese government propagandist. This is Liu Xin, a CGTN show host, as shown in the March 30, 2018, edition of Dian Shi Sheng Huo, a Communist Party of China newsletter for CCTV employees. It recognized her as a “top ten” host and applauded her work in telling China’s story.
I picked this newsletter off a cafeteria rack for employees in the CCTV headquarters one day, to add my collection of odd souvenirs that come with living and working in a foreign country (especially at CGTN). Much later, in January 2020, I noticed Liu Xin was in the newsletter.
This is relevant to the testy Twitter exchange she got into with Trish Regan, a Fox Business channel host, in May 2019. It culminated in Liu appearing on Regan’s show, which began with Regan introducing Liu as a “part of” the CPC. Liu was quick to tell Regan she is not a CPC member and that she was appearing there solely as “a journalist working for CGTN”. (A knee-slapper if there ever was one. And that either of these people consider themselves a journalist is a testament to the sad state of broadcast news.)
Now, it should be noted, the newsletter does not use the designation of tongzhi (comrade) in referring to her, as it does to some of the others listed. Maybe that’s how it differentiates between Party members and non-members mentioned here, and if so, that would support Liu’s indignant assertion that she is not a CPC member. Nevertheless, her appearance makes her argument look a lot flimsier. The Party obviously favored her enough to give her this recognition, and that doesn’t happen without being in tight lockstep with its views. Liu used a razor-thin technicality to score the first point in what, in China at least, was treated with as much hype as a heavyweight boxing match. Meanwhile, the rest of the world barely noticed, showing once again how out of touch China is with any reality except its own.
Not that this much matters. CGTN is in effect run by the Communist Party of China. Whether a worker is a formal member of the Party makes no difference. The worker will still be forced to carry the Party line.