December 12, 2025 – China Headlines

Story gist: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Ukraine and Russia should withdraw troops from Donetsk on a reciprocal basis.

Bias summary: Left-leaning outlets emphasize Ukraine’s insistence on achieving a ceasefire before signing agreements, highlighting preconditions. Center outlets neutrally report Zelensky’s call for reciprocal withdrawal in Donetsk. Right-leaning coverage reframes the story around Europe’s fears and balancing difficulties in resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict, omitting Zelensky’s statement and focusing on external actors’ hesitations.

Story gist: Beijing issued blue blizzard and orange road icing warnings. Significant snowfall is expected from noon to late night, with rail transit increasing capacity.

Bias summary: Left-leaning Xinhua frames Beijing’s first snow as ‘scheduled’ with ‘bonus’ cooling winds, using playful metaphors for engaging tone. Center outlet Phoenix highlights snow already falling in three western districts moving eastward to urban areas by noon, employing a rhetorical question for immediacy. Right-leaning coverage absent, leaving no conservative framing of the event.

Story gist: China’s domestically developed large drone ‘Jiutian’ successfully completed its maiden flight.

Bias summary: Left-leaning Communist Party News uses a neutral, factual headline focused solely on the successful first flight. Center Sina Finance emphasizes military capabilities like carrying 6 tons of bombs or over 100 suicide drones, nicknaming it an ‘aircraft carrier.’ Right-leaning Fengwen adopts sensational tone with exclamations, labels it an ‘air unmanned aircraft carrier,’ and speculates on 100-drone swarm combat via questioning.

Story gist: Houses in Surin Province, Thailand, were damaged by artillery fire.

Bias summary: Left-leaning People’s Daily International frames the story neutrally with a factual title emphasizing damaged houses in Surin Province. No center- or right-leaning coverage appears, omitting the incident entirely; center perspectives on balanced regional conflict reporting and right-leaning views on security implications or border tensions are absent.