In the first half of 2025, Chinese propagandists and censors on Weibo primarily focused on manipulating discussions related to US-China trade relations and public health and safety.
According to Pulse Insights’ M3 team, these two themes accounted for 18 and 19, respectively, of the top 100 most manipulated events detected between January and June 2025. Beijing’s objective is to shield itself from netizen discontent and project an image of having earned its right to rule, especially as anti-US propaganda intensified in April 2025 when US tariffs on Chinese goods rose to 145 percent, leading to a significant spike in anti-US propaganda posts. Concurrently, censors actively removed discussions that suggested weakness or compromise in trade negotiations and controlled narratives around public health and safety issues, such as the collapse of a Chinese-built building in Thailand and alleged corruption in Chinese hospitals.
