Interestingly, in the discussion of Chinese investment in Slovakia, the analyzed media omitted the issue of CEFC investment despite its close links to Slovakia. In comparison, the issue of CEFC was covered more by the Czech alternative media. Significantly larger shares of articles adopted an international perspective, covering topics related to the US and Sino-American trade war, relations with Russia, relations with the EU, and infrastructure investment.

Articles based upon Russian sources (e.g. Russia Today, Sputnik, or TASS agency) often discussed the relationship between Russia and China, describing them as mutually beneficial and as a counterweight to the Western liberal world order.

Protests were clearly a key topic in the monitored period as they spread in Hong Kong after the announcement of a proposal to change Hong Kong’s extradition law. Beijing’s positions which appeared in the alternative media were staunch objections to the interference of “external forces” in China’s internal affairs. Similar statements were directed mainly at the US and the United Kingdom, and later, after the suspension of extradition treaties, also against Canada,  Australia, and Germany. More problematic narratives were spread in connection with the US, especially when Russia also entered into the conversation.

In essence, MapInfluenCE research into alternative Slovak media reporting on Hong Kong discovered a strong meta-narrative of the “color revolution,” followed by dubious comparisons to the Ukrainian Maidan protests and the rhetoric of foreign forces influencing public opinion and directing the protests themselves. This was also the case of the Czech alternative media reporting. Protests were often described as an instrument of a hybrid war waged against the Chinese regime.

The media coverage of the Xinjiang issue during the monitored period primarily focused on questions related to human rights violations and how this permeates into US-China relations. Overall, the coverage demonstrated little intricate analysis of the topic but rather focused on factual reports, most likely due to the low profile of the issue in Slovakia.

While at the beginning of the monitored period, the coverage largely focused on the reporting of what is happening in Xinjiang, reports of detention camps, and the Uyghur minority, the coverage gradually shifted towards framing the issue as a part of the Sino-US rivalry. Indeed, as the time proceeded, and the US began to mention potential sanctions for Beijing’s conduct in Xinjiang, articles often referred to the trade war, the US blacklist, and the Chinese tech companies such as Huawei and ZTE. Some articles eventually mentioned the Xinjiang issue only in passing while focusing on wider US-China tensions.

The discussions on China and Taiwan in the alternative media focused largely on the discussions of Taiwanese independence, the One-China policy, military buildup in the Taiwan Strait, as well as on the two entities’ relations with the US. With a few exceptions, almost all the analyzed articles included at least a rudimentary discussion of the ‘One-China Principle’ and China-Taiwan relations.

Coronavirus was another prominent topic discussed in articles dealing with China and Taiwan. Most of the articles discussed the prospects of Taiwan’s membership/participation in the World Health Organization (WHO) and China’s opposition to it, as well as Taiwan’s initial communication with the WHO at the beginning of the new coronavirus outbreak.