With more than 170 foreign and 31 domestic bureaus, Xinhua, or New China News Agency, has a broad reach in China and around the world. And as the official organ of China’s Communist Party, it has long provided the country’s perspective on international issues and events. Now, for the first time, a wide-ranging archive of articles published by Xinhua between 1946 and 1996 is available in English through Propaganda and the Chinese Press—a vital digital resource for researchers seeking to understand the role that Communist mass media played in Chinese culture, the Cold War, and 20th-century world history.
The only digital English-language translation of Xinhua’s archive
From 1946 to 1996, a U.S. government organization that became part of the CIA monitored, collected, and translated into English thousands of articles distributed by the Xinhua news agency to state-run media outlets. These translated documents are now available through Propaganda and the Chinese Press—an essential digital resource for students and scholars studying a volatile period of Chinese and world history. From the rise of Mao Zedong to the Korean War, China’s Cultural Revolution to America’s Civil Rights Movement, Propaganda and the Chinese Press allows users to see some of the 20th century’s most significant events through the eyes of China’s Communist leaders.
Unique insight into the “war of words”
While the mass media created and distributed by the Xinhua news agency during the latter half of the 20th century was a megaphone for China’s Communist leaders, it offers essential context for researchers studying the role of propaganda in China and beyond. Xinhua helped drive support for China’s economic reforms, and h helped propagate the “war of words” between the United States and China. And Xinhua’s coverage of international news provides a fascinating glimpse into the Chinese Communist perspective on Cold War events like the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and much more.
An essential research tool for a range of disciplines
Students and scholars researching Asian studies, media studies, the Cold War, 20th-century history, international relations, political science, communication and propaganda, and related fields will find a wealth of information to advance their work in Propaganda and the Chinese Press. The interface enables users to target their searches or easily browse the collection through a broad range of topics, unlocking a wealth of research opportunities.
A Twentieth-Century Global Perspectives collection
Propaganda and the Chinese Press is part of the Readex Twentieth Century Global Perspectives series. Other collections now available include American Proxy Wars: Korea and Vietnam; Pravda Archive, 1959-1996; Nuclear Arms and Weapons of Mass Destruction; World Protest and Reform Movements; Apartheid: Global Perspectives, 1946-1996; The Cold War: Global Perspectives on East-West Tensions, 1945-1991; Immigrations, Migrations and Refugees: Global Perspectives, 1941-1996; American Race Relations: Global Perspectives, 1941-1996; and Middle East and North Africa: Global Perspectives, 1958-1994.