Each week, distinguished academics, activists, and media professionals join forces — sometimes unknowingly — to help the Chinese Communist Party portray the United States as a decaying empire in contrast to an ascendant China.

China Global Television Network is one of the country’s most prolific state-run media outfits. Operating under the Central Propaganda Department of the CCP, CGTN, in the words of a 2022 academic paper, depicts the U.S. as “poorly governed, plutocratic, racist, and a destabilizing international influence” and China as “well governed, benign, stable, and a rising superpower.” A Washington Examiner review of social media posts dating back to August found that dozens of high-profile Westerners, primarily professors, have appeared on the network for interviews. Many of these guests were not aware of CGTN’s links to Beijing.