Beijing ordered certain staff at The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal to halt reporting inside China, in retaliation for a State Department move against Chinese outlets.
As pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong continue to dominate the world's news, China is aggressively presenting a very different picture of events. The audience is its people, and home and abroad.
Under President Xi Jinping, China has devoted massive resources to burnish its global image and focus overwhelming media attention on its leader. Now, "Xi Jinping is the message," observes one expert.