J.D.’s view
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.
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When asked about the status of the program, China Youth Daily, the state media outlet that promoted the trips, said in a message on X: “This activity has come to an end,” without elaborating further.
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington said, “We couldn’t find additional details about this event in the past few days.”
China appears eager to bridge global digital divides, hailing visits by Western influencers that promote the country as high-tech, orderly, and welcoming to foreigners. More foreign creators have also joined Chinese social media platforms, a soft power coup. But Beijing’s battle for hearts and minds has hit other snags: American YouTube star MrBeast recently made his livestream debut on the Chinese platform Kuaishou, but the broadcast reportedly ended after 11 minutes, after MrBeast grew frustrated that he couldn’t read the Chinese comments.
Did you apply for this program? Have you heard any rumblings about it online or offline? Let me know.