Intro

This is a free preview of the episode "China Pt. 4: Unlearning Anti-China Propaganda w/ Li Jingjing". You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast

As a Patreon subscriber you'll get access to at least one bonus episode a month (usually two or three), our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes, early access to certain episodes, and other benefits like stickers and bumper stickers—depending on which tier you subscribe to. access to bi-weekly bonus episodes ranging from conversations to readings and more. Signing up for Patreon is a great way to make Upstream a weekly show, and it will also give you access to our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes along with stickers and bumper stickers at certain subscription tiers. You’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going.

Living in a world dominated by the United States leaves us all with a lifetime of propaganda to unlearn. No matter what corner of the globe we’re in, we’re not immune to Western hegemony and the hard and soft power deployed to brainwash our minds, exploit our bodies, and destroy our cultures. But there are, despite the power of capitalist PR and commodity fetishism—alternative pathways. There are ways to unlearn the propaganda. And in today’s episode, we’re going to attempt to do just that: break at least some of the chains of imperialist propaganda when it comes to China.

Li Jingjing is a multimedia reporter at China Global Television Network, or CGTN, based in Beijing, China. And despite the scare-tactics of Mark Zuckerberg and our other tech overlords labeling her Instagram account as “China state-controlled media”—which is a real pot calling the kettle black moment as the oligarchs in the White House text their plans to bomb hospitals in Yemen to high-profile journalists—despite these red-scare labels applied to Li only meant to fearmonger and propagandize, Li’s social media is a breath of fresh air when it comes to unlearning Western propaganda on China. 

In this conversation, Part 4 of our China series here on Patreon, we bring some Li’s shorter videos dispelling propaganda to you in a more longform way, starting with a conversation about her recent coverage of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which we introduced in Part 2 of this series with Ken Hammond. Li explains to us how the political system in China works and what some of the policy outcomes of these conferences were before embarking on a fascinating conversation that weaves together personal anecdotes and stories with data and statistics to dismantle many of the myths we believe about China and which reveal a picture of a society that our warmongering policymakers and their lapdogs in the media don’t want you to know about. 

Artwork: Chinese Communist Party propaganda poster commemorating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the party.

Further resources:

• CGTN
• Li Jingjing on Twitter, Instagram and Tiktok
• Studies show strong public support for China’s political system, Jason Hickel
• Ne Zha 2 (film)

Related episodes:

• (Chinese) Socialism vs (U.S.) Capitalism
• Listen to our ongoing series on China

Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support

If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship

For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Instagram and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.