The Chinese edition of the NZ Herald edited translated articles from the NZ Herald to put a better light on the Chinese government.

It has also omitted articles entirely that discuss the Chinese Government in a negative way, in one case taking a much more sanitised version from a Chinese wire service.

The Chinese NZ Herald is the result of a 2016 joint venture between NZME, which own the NZ Herald, and long-running Chinese publication The Chinese Herald. The website and WeChat channel, which use the NZ Herald branding, feature both translated pieces from the English-language Herald, articles from the Chinese Herald, and stories from other Chinese news sources.

But several pieces translated for the website omit information that would make the Chinese government uncomfortable.

One 2017 NZ Herald article about a Chinese pensioner being robbed featured three paragraphs about the fact the pensioner was a Falun Gong refugee, escaping persecution from the Chinese government in New Zealand. These paragraphs did not feature in the translated version of the story.

ABIGAIL DOUGHERTY/STUFF Falun Gong practitioner and researcher Daisy Lee, who has spoken out against the translation.

Another 2017 article concerning scholar Anne-Marie Brady's research on alleged Chinese political operations within New Zealand was translated with several quotes from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Brady omitted.

Indeed, despite extensive reporting by the English language NZ Herald on the Brady paper and the subsequent break-in to her home - stories which all concern the China-New Zealand relationship - almost none of this reporting has been translated for the Chinese NZ Herald.

NZ Herald editor Shayne Currie told Stuff the issues concerning the two articles were raised with NZME in early 2018 and had been acted upon.

"We made clear to the Chinese NZ Herald that all articles from the NZ Herald must be fully and accurately translated, and we have been given assurances on this," Currie said.

"Operationally, it is over to the editor of the Chinese NZ Herald as to which NZ Herald articles he and his editorial team wish to translate. It is also the Chinese NZ Herald's call as to which articles it sources from other agencies."

Questions put directly to the Chinese NZ Herald by Stuff were not responded to.

Falun Gong member and China researcher Daisy Lee said the repeating omissions showed just how long the arm of the Chinese government was.

Lee had uncovered evidence of Chinese Herald boss Lili Wang participating in state-run media workshops in China, where she at one point discussed how overseas Chinese media could help promote China's gigantic One Belt, One Road infrastructure project.

Almost all media in China is either state-run or self-censors to avoid punishment from the government.

All media outlets are required to be members of the All-China Journalists Association (ACJA), a kind of trade union for journalists. Most overseas Chinese outlets are also members of the body.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has directly said that he expects journalists from ACJA to "keep in mind its duty to carry out the party's publicity work".

Stuff has a content-sharing partnership with SkyKiwi, another Chinese-language online news platform.

SkyKiwi's Wellington bureau chief Lily Wang - not to be confused with Lili Wang - told Stuff in a 2018 interview the publication was "careful" about "publishing sensitive information" as the publication's relationship with the Chinese Embassy was very important.

"We are Chinese media, so we need to get Chinese information," Wang said.

SkyKiwi's editorial director Leon Li told Stuff the publication followed the same values and ethics as English-language Kiwi media.

"We respect and value the freedom of expression. We also believe as a media, the most important thing is "fact" rather than political position."

This article has been updated and clarified with further comment from SkyKiwi.