Abstract
This article uses a case study of three propaganda videos featuring children promoting the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to analyse how children are used in post-1978 Chinese propaganda. Our close semiotic analysis of these videos takes a two-pronged approach. First, we trace how the images of children in the BRI videos emerge out of a historical trajectory of deploying children as political messengers in Chinese propaganda. Second, we consider how this deployment of children differs due to the expansion of the target audience to include international viewers. Children continue to be used as propaganda mouthpieces to strengthen China's prowess. However, although propaganda materials in the past used images of children as nation-builders, the BRI videos utilize children not to build up the individual nation, but rather to break down national barriers and project a happy future where all nations work together towards economic prosperity. Images of children's playfulness, purity, and joy are harnessed to downplay the perception of China as a threat, transforming it into a friend. However, we identify elements in the videos that undermine their overarching message.