The result of the U.S. presidential election is undecided. The Chinese state media, which originally strictly controlled the reporting on the election, recently changed and even started to report on the differences in the vote projections that different U.S. main stream media made and on the protests in different U.S. cities.
A Chinese news reporter confirmed that Beijing had previously issued orders requiring that news related to the U.S. presidential election must be “coordinated” and the source must be an official media like Xinhua. There was to be no reprinting or follow-up on foreign media reports without authorization. News reports must comply with the statements from China’s spokesperson and strictly guard against messages or actions that might instigate anti-U.S. or boycott the U.S. sentiment.
Starting on November 5, Chinese state media significantly increased coverage of the U.S. presidential election. The focus is on the delay in the counting of votes, increases in mail-in votes, and on early voters resulting from COVID 19, and the “chaos” it has created. The media also showed footage of the protests of both Trump and Biden supporters.
Although the official media deliberately amplified that the vote was undecided, some Chinese people opted to track the election process on the Internet for days. A Beijing citizen observed that state media was too slow and only suitable for seniors. If anyone really wanted to track it in real time, he could watch it on the U.S. media sites directly.
Source: Central News Agency, November 7, 2020
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/firstnews/202011070070.aspx