Archive - Too Simple, Sometimes Naive

Where did all the laowai go?

China has loudly been telling the world its tourist industry is booming. Videos show legions of happy tourists. Yet numbers tell a different story...

Jul 6 •

May 2025

China is winning the media war

Thanks to censorship, a new media direction, and Western self-sabotage, today the stories you hear from China.. are mostly just those the Party wants…

May 29 •

China's army launches media hiring spree

The PLA is boosting its news department: the latest step in readying for a Taiwan invasion? Also, how Trump's tariff war may actually be helping…

May 8 •

March 2025

After two hours talking to me, China's Deepseek had sold out its Government and was keen to move abroad

The AI app is actually bizarrely honest and critical about the Party. You just have to ask the right questions.

Mar 22 •

Two Sessions 2025 — what did we learn?

As China's vapid political circus comes to town, state media hurry to say a lot... about very little.

Mar 10 •

February 2025

China's new PR strategy: positivity and confidence

Wolf Warriorism proved a disaster last time. So for Trump 2.0, China's leadership is trying the reverse tactic. Early signs show it seems to be working.

Feb 24 •

China revels in abolishment of USAID

While official reaction was muted, a few state media couldn't resist gloating. Unfortunately, nearly everything they said could have been about…

Feb 8 •

January 2025

How "Red" is Little Red Book?

TikTokers fled to China's fluffy, politics-free answer to "Instagram". Yet behind the scenes, Xiaohongshu is being increasingly coopted by the CPC.

Jan 20 •

"Doggy Dog": how an award-winning analyst uses a stuffed toy to target female China journalists

Laban Yu was once regularly quoted by Financial Times to CNN. Today he pretends to be a dog, "stalking" women he wants to 'train'.

Jan 14 •

Is China's "peak coal" just spouting emissions?

In many ways, coal is the Party's biggest, dirtiest secret. Long read.

Jan 4 •

December 2024

Two plane crashes generate vastly different coverage in China

While state media poured over the incident in South Korea, news of the flight shot down by its ally Russia was rather more muted

Dec 30, 2024 •

Mini-update. "Peter Dukes"

As the story finally hit the internet, I got hit with a BlueSky ban.

Dec 15, 2024 •

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