China’s multi-layered propaganda machine targets Czechia

The Prague High Court is currently considering whether to keep holding Yang Yiming, a Chinese national who had been working as Prague correspondent for Guangming Daily, a newspaper controlled by the CCP's Central Propaganda Department, in custody. The Czech Security Information Service (BIS) identified Yang as an operative of China's Ministry of State Security (MSS), alleging he used his cover as a journalist to collect compromising information on Czech politicians, particularly those supportive of closer ties with Taiwan.

The case points to a broader pattern documented by RSF, notably in the China edition of The Propaganda Monitor: the Chinese regime views journalism - at home and abroad - as a means to further the state's goals. In Czechia, this notably translates into Beijing's attempts to insert its narrative into the media landscape of this European Union (EU) member state.

Insidious content sharing

In 2019, the Czech-language service of China Radio International (CRI) launched a nearly thirty-minute programme called "Barevný svět" ("Colourful World"). As a Chinese state-controlled broadcaster, CRI is required to produce content aligned with the interests of the CCP. This means the information it disseminates is closely controlled by a state known for jailing trustworthy journalists.

According to the study by Czech researcher Ivana Karásková published by the Central European Digital Media Observatory in 2023, the programme was broadcast six times per week on the Czech commercial stations Radio HEY and Radio Color. "Barevný svět" covered, according to the official description, "travel, history, culture, [...] and other points of interest, particularly from the Far East." However, it focused almost exclusively on China, presenting Chinese government policy in a positive light, and episodes mentioning Tibet or Taiwan, for example, adhered to official Chinese narratives. Over a thousand episodes aired between 2019 and April 2023, without any disclosure to listeners of Radio HEY and Radio Color that the content was co-produced by a Chinese state broadcaster, according to RSF information.

The official website of CRI stated the programme had been prepared with Radio HEY and the consulting company Phoenix Amber, a firm managed by a translator who, in 2022, was listed on CRI's Czech website as a Prague correspondent. The partnership exemplifies the CCP's strategy of "borrowing a boat to go out to sea" - a term used by Czech researchers- meaning it uses local media outlets as proxies for spreading its narratives abroad.

The CCP also creates links with less credible outlets. The site iportal24.cz - listed as one of 20 Czech sites that cite Russian media and regurgitate their narratives, according to a report by Ukraine-oriented outlets Insight News and TV Espreso - has cooperated directly with the China Media Group (CMG), the parent structure of CRI. These actions include co-organising public discussions that involve the Czech-Chinese Mixed Chamber of Commerce, with speakers from CMG.

In 2021, an investigation by the Czech daily Deník N  found that articles with no bylines promoting Beijing's narratives on CRI's Czech-language website were being republished by the website AC24, which has been flagged as a disinformation site by Czech researchers. AC24 founder Ondřej Geršl told Deník N  that a colleague handled articles about China, denied being in contact with the Chinese Embassy and said he did not believe AC24 had any agreement with Chinese authorities. The Chinese Embassy in Prague, however, has shared AC24 content on its social media accounts.

When influencers amplify Beijing

Of course, China's propaganda strategy in Czechia has spread into social media. A 2025 investigation by the Czech outlet Refresher found that multiple Czech influencers have been producing content with Czech-speaking Chinese social media accounts since at least 2022. For example, Pepa Zhang (26K followers on Instagram) and Lada Wang (74K followers on Instagram) reach out to Czech influencers to collaborate on "lifestyle content." But analyst Ivana Karásková from the NGO Association for International Affairs identified both as prominent Czech-language faces of CRI, which oversees the editorial guidelines of their content.

In addition to content partnerships, the CCP's propaganda strategy relies heavily on press trips. In late 2024, for example, Czech TikToker Jan "Honzi" Michálek, who has approximately one million followers, publicly described a trip to China, which was fully funded by a "random" Chinese agency that reached out via email. He travelled to East Turkestan - a region Beijing refers to as "Xinjiang province" where the United Nations has documented mass human rights abuses against the Uyghur minority - accompanied by a Chinese-speaking crew filming him for Chinese television.

This April, Seznam Zprávy reported another case in which the person contacting TikTokers and YouTubers used an email address associated with Turing Market, a company whose founders describe themselves as graduates of Tsinghua University. The proposed eight-day programme targeted creators from Central and Eastern Europe and was designed to highlight "China's urban vitality, scientific progress, cultural heritage and commitment to international cooperation." The same investigation also found that Czech TikTokers were approached by representatives of a digital marketing agency called Blossom & Wood Media, which offered them trips to the Beijing auto show in exchange for promotional videos based on content supplied by the company. The firm notably sought the right to create and manage the influencers' accounts on Douyin, China's domestic version of TikTok and a major platform for Chinese state and Communist Party messaging.

In 2025, YouTuber Martin Mikyska created a sting video to expose these press trips. His coworkers posed as representatives of a fictitious agency that met influencers in Prague offices but listed an address in a Chinese Communist Party compound in Beijing in its draft contract. The fake agency offered Czech reality-show influencers fully funded trips to China, plus compensation. Several participants signed non-binding agreements about the terms of the trip after being informed certain parts of the internet would be restricted on the trip and certain topics prohibited. "I believe that Mr. Mikyska's activities focused on influencers have helped raise awareness in the short term that not all offers of cooperation that influencers receive are necessarily without problems from an ethical or security point of view," Karásková told RSF.

Czechia ranks 11th out of 180 countries and territories in the 2026 RSF World Press Freedom Index. China remains the world's largest jailer of journalists, with 124 currently detained, and ranks 178th out of 180 countries and territories in the Index.