Washington seems to be waking up and understanding China’s communist character more and more. The US State Department has just released a special report on the Chinese government’s propaganda and disinformation methods. His conclusion is clear: the Chinese government is trying to establish an authoritarian global information order. Democracies resist this propaganda quite well, but this is not the case elsewhere. Nevertheless, Chinese propaganda manages to penetrate democracies, as some readers’ comments on the magazine’s pages show Newspaper. The judge who heads the Foreign Interference Commission should read this report.
1) How is China spreading Russian propaganda towards Ukraine?
The Chinese media has seized on Russian propaganda about the need for denazification of Ukraine, about cooperation between American and Ukrainian laboratories to produce biological weapons of mass destruction, or even about American military aid to Ukraine, which would be the main reason for prolonging the conflict. China’s ambassador to Russia even went so far as to state that there was a global consensus that NATO provoked the conflict in Ukraine. All of these claims are false. But Russian media repeats articles from Chinese media to show that these claims are not necessarily theirs or that they are universal.
2) Does the report provide new facts?
The report provides relatively few new facts about the workings of Chinese propaganda, but shows that its influence is growing rapidly. For example, the Chinese government offers scholarships and paid trips to China to around a hundred journalists from African countries. These journalists are strongly encouraged to write articles that have a positive impact on China. In 2021, the Chinese authorities in Pakistan proposed to the Pakistani authorities (who showed little interest) mechanisms to control all information produced by Pakistani society.
3) On which issues does the Chinese government intervene the most?
The Chinese government intervenes abroad in five areas in particular: Taiwan, human rights, maritime borders claimed by China, the image of the Chinese economy and international economic issues.
4) Why is the US government releasing this report now?
It is clear that the American government fears that the Chinese government will increasingly be able to manipulate world opinion in its favor, especially in countries that are not democracies, but also in the Chinese diaspora. In addition, the American government announced that it had resumed negotiations with the Chinese government in numerous areas. The report could serve to increase pressure on the Chinese government.
5) Does the US government also engage in propaganda?
It would be naive to believe that the American government does not engage in propaganda. However, there is no equivalent between the freedom of the press that exists in the United States and in democracies in general compared to the heavy censorship that exists in China and Russia. The special report on Chinese propaganda is obviously a counter-propaganda operation. However, it is based on the belief that exposing an opponent’s propaganda mechanisms weakens that propaganda. Will the Chinese government release a similar document on American propaganda? There is room for doubt.
