The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is actively working to spread its influence and narrative globally, subtly integrating political messaging into various forms of media and international relations. This isn’t just about direct propaganda; it’s a sophisticated strategy that involves everything from injecting political narratives into lifestyle content to offering free trips to journalists, as seen with Grenadian reporters touring China. A 2023 report from SciDev and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) in Albania highlighted how China Radio International, a state-run outlet, dedicates 84% of its Albanian articles to seven key areas: economy, Albanian culture, world news, current Albanian affairs, geopolitics, technology, and Chinese politics and society. The report shows how Beijing’s political agenda is woven into these topics, making it particularly potent for the Albanian audience. Blerjana Bino, speaking exclusively with Reporters Without Borders (RSF), delves into why Albania’s media landscape is uniquely vulnerable to China’s influence. Her insights reveal a concerted effort by China to shape perceptions, leveraging existing vulnerabilities in Albania’s information ecosystem for its strategic advantage. This sophisticated approach, while often subtle, aims to normalize China’s political model and global role, posing a long-term challenge to democratic values and transparent media in countries like Albania.
Bino’s work on press freedom and Chinese propaganda didn’t emerge overnight; it was a gradual realization fueled by shifting perceptions. For a long time, Albania was considered somewhat immune to foreign interference in its information space, a stark contrast to neighbors like Serbia and Montenegro. However, this belief was shattered in 2020 when a European Parliament study on disinformation in the Western Balkans, including Albania, revealed a different reality. This revelation prompted Bino and her colleagues to intensify their monitoring, particularly during pivotal events like the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war in 2022. Simultaneously, the European Union was seeking independent data on potential disinformation from state actors like Russia, China, and Iran in Albania. These discussions, coupled with the growing evidence, became the catalyst for a project developed with BIRN, an initiative funded by the EUD focusing on monitoring and raising awareness about foreign information manipulation. This crucial work underscored the evolving nature of information warfare and the pressing need to understand how foreign powers, particularly China, subtly penetrate and influence national narratives.
Albania’s information space, as characterized by Bino, is a complex blend of domestic issues and foreign influence, making it particularly susceptible to manipulation. It’s not just about external pressures; internal dynamics play a significant role. The media market in Albania is incredibly small and highly concentrated; ownership is often intertwined with powerful business and political interests, and there have even been whispers of criminal networks exerting influence. This lack of diverse ownership often leads to compromised media integrity, characterized by low professional standards and limited editorial independence. In such an environment, disinformation doesn’t always need to be deliberate; it can spread simply because basic journalistic ethics are neglected. Economically, many media outlets function as tools for business owners to further their private agendas, especially in sectors like infrastructure, tourism, health, and education, where revenues are heavily dependent on government contracts and indirect funding. Furthermore, the pervasive pressure to create “clickbait” or “rage-bait” content, driven by digital platform algorithms, often fuels the spread of disinformation, including pro-Kremlin narratives. However, Bino points out that China’s influence operates on a slightly different, more intentional level than these market-driven dynamics, employing calculated strategies rather than just exploiting existing structural weaknesses.
China’s approach to leveraging Albania’s vulnerabilities is less about overt disinformation campaigns and more about sophisticated public diplomacy and propaganda. Bino highlights a consistent effort to project a positive image of China through subtle framing. China Radio International is a primary instrument, broadcasting news in Albanian, often drawing from local sources like the Albanian Telegraphic Agency while also providing Chinese perspectives on global affairs and developments within China. Although Xinhua News Agency primarily publishes in English, it occasionally releases Albanian content, reinforcing the narrative. Additionally, several local online media outlets subtly align with Chinese viewpoints, particularly on international issues, while maintaining a seemingly neutral stance on daily Albanian news. A formal cooperation agreement with Albania’s public broadcaster, aimed at airing documentaries on Chinese-Albanian historical, economic, and cultural ties, has drawn criticism for potentially serving as a platform for Chinese propaganda, yet these documentaries continue to air periodically. Academic and cultural diplomacy, exemplified by the Confucius Institute at the University of Tirana and recent study visits to China aimed at strengthening academic cooperation, further contribute to this soft power projection. While Albania is not part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, recent implicit political signals from Prime Minister Edi Rama, like inviting Chinese embassy representatives and students onto his podcast to promote “The New China Playbook,” suggest a growing openness to engagement with China. These actions, Bino explains, collectively leverage Albania’s information ecosystem to subtly align with Chinese interests and narratives.
Bino describes China’s strategy as highly intentional and a crucial tool of its foreign policy and public diplomacy. While cultural diplomacy and public outreach demonstrate clear strategic intent, the narratives are consistently guided by the party-state system, promoting China’s governance model and global role positively. However, the intensity of this strategy varies by country. Unlike Serbia, with its deeper economic ties and different geopolitical positioning, Albania has a strong pro-European and pro-US foreign policy, which shapes where China can operate. Notably, China generally avoids engaging with sensitive domestic issues in Albania that could create division, instead opting for a subtle, calibrated approach. Bino emphasizes that China doesn’t position itself against Albania’s strategic goal of EU accession and avoids large-scale disinformation campaigns seen with other actors. Instead, its core narratives frame China as a development success story, a reliable global partner—often portrayed as misunderstood by the West—offering “win-win” cooperation without political conditions. This is implicitly contrasted with the EU model, which comes with stricter requirements around democracy, human rights, and governance, subtly suggesting an alternative, less demanding partnership.
The cumulative effect of this subtle, long-term exposure to Chinese narratives on Albania’s democratic debate and public trust is significant. Bino believes it can gradually normalize the Chinese political model as a legitimate alternative, especially in a context where many Albanians are dissatisfied with the post-transition process and the unfulfilled promises of democratic consolidation. This widespread frustration often leads to distrust in public institutions, elections, and even the media. In such an environment, persistent exposure to narratives portraying the Chinese system as effective, stable, and successful can slowly shift perceptions, making the party-state model seem like a viable option. This is particularly sensitive in Albania due to its communist past, a period that hasn’t been fully reconciled, and in some cases, even partially romanticized. The implications extend to democratic standards and values: while the EU accession process emphasizes core values like human rights, rule of law, and freedom of expression, the Chinese model frames these differently. Furthermore, in the digital realm, contrasting approaches to AI governance—the EU’s focus on ethics and safeguards versus China’s distinct model—can subtly reshape how these values are perceived and prioritized over time, influencing societal norms and expectations.