BEIJING – Gone are the days when China’s Communist government stuck strictly to dogmatic, rigid communication. Having taken firm control over the internet within its borders through extensive censorship, Beijing is now leveraging the dynamic capabilities of social media and artificial intelligence to shape its narrative, often taking aim at the United States and its leadership.
Recently, China’s state media released a five-minute AI-generated animation styled after classic martial arts films. This creative piece serves as a metaphor for the conflict in Iran. In the animation, a white eagle, clad in regal attire and representing the United States, lets out a sinister laugh as its forces prepare to attack Persian cats, which symbolize Iranians. These cats, dressed in black cloaks, pledge to fight back after losing their leader and sealing off a vital trade route.
The animation, filled with themes of injustice, revenge, and wisdom, is the latest in a series of AI-driven projects by China’s state media. These animations aim to portray the U.S. as a global bully, with past examples including satirical takes on President Donald Trump’s ambitions regarding Greenland and his strategies for asserting U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere.
This strategic use of AI in storytelling aligns with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s longstanding initiative to enhance China’s global messaging capabilities. By doing so, China seeks to assert a stronger voice in international affairs and challenge Western narratives that it perceives as biased or derogatory. Similarly, pro-Iran groups have used polished, AI-generated content to mock the U.S. and its president.
This unfolding scenario is part of a broader global information warfare, where the U.S. is committed to enhancing its strategies to counter foreign narratives that undermine American interests. The competition for narrative control continues to intensify on the world stage.
Recent cables by the State Department have warned that foreign messaging campaigns, carried on digital platforms by foreign state-controlled media, “pose a direct threat to U.S. national security and fuel hostility toward American interests.”
China finds new ways to spread its worldview
AI-generated “infotainment” spread via social media is likely to be more effective in persuading younger audiences worldwide to accept Chinese viewpoints and is becoming routine in the country’s messaging, said Shi Anbin, professor and director of Israel Epstein Center for Global Media and Communications at Tsinghua University.
“It is a new way for Chinese mainstream media to engage global Gen Z audience and social media users to understand Chinese standpoint and viewpoint of international affairs,” Shi said.
The short on the Iran war probably is one of the sleekest efforts by China’s state media.
Released by the state broadcaster China Central Television on social media, it has gone viral at home and garnered rave reviews from its Chinese audience for translating a complex geopolitical war into an easy-to-understand affair. It made its way to the English-language world after an X user subtitled it and posted the clip online, drawing more than 1 million views in only a few days.
“It’s hardly even like propaganda — it almost seems more just a historical fiction dramatization of the situation,” said Andrew Chubb, a senior lecturer in the School of Global Affairs at Lancaster University whose studies include political propaganda.
Messaging turns away from the dull
It’s a long way from the days when China’s messaging was dull. Party newspapers carried slogan-filled, hollow-sounding speeches lauding the country’s merits while denouncing Western influence. Students and junior officials complained of the dry study materials they were required to learn to pass exams on party history and ideology.
As young people turned away from stiff party language, Beijing began to change.
It no longer frowns upon impish web language but embraces it to retell the party history and has turned to rap music to extol the party’s feats. It now recruits pop singers and actors to star in patriotic films, counting on their popular appeal — rather than orders or free tickets — to draw young people to movie theaters. Even anti-corruption television series have become hits with intriguing plots, punchy lines and superb acting.
Urged to make messaging appealing and effective, state media are experimenting with nontraditional formats, including short-form, digitally native content using AI, said Wang Zichen, deputy secretary-general for the Beijing-based think tank Center for China & Globalization.
“Whatever one thinks about the format, the message itself clearly resonates with increasingly larger audiences, which helps explain why such content gains traction online,” Wang said.
A social media ‘matrix’ targets a global audience
China has directed money into promoting a narrative that targets a global audience, with the party building a massive “matrix” of social media accounts — managed by diplomats, state media, influencers and even bots — on various platforms, including X and Facebook. And they seize opportunities to send their message.
In February, the official Xinhua News Agency released an AI-generated music video lampooning the U.S. threat to take over Greenland.
“Anything I want, I’ll get it. One way or another, I’ll get it,” sings a bald eagle character dressed in military uniform.
In March, after Trump convened the “Shield of the Americas” summit, Xinhua posted a short video depicting a bald eagle caging small birds in the name of security.
“Sometimes, security comes with a little control,” the suited bald eagle tells the caged birds.
___
Tang reported from Washington. AP writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
