Chinese propaganda is more threatening and more global than ever

It seems that Washington is beginning to wake up and understand China’s communist nature better and better. The US State Department has just released a special report on propaganda and disinformation tactics used by the Chinese government. His conclusion is clear: the Chinese government is trying to create an authoritarian global information system. Democracies resist this propaganda well, but this is not the case elsewhere. However, Chinese propaganda has managed to penetrate democracies, as evidenced by some readers’ comments in the magazine’s pages. Newspaper. The judge heading the Foreign Interference Committee was supposed to read this report.

1) How does China transmit Russian propaganda regarding Ukraine?

Chinese media have covered Russian propaganda about the need to cleanse Ukraine of Nazism, or cooperation between American and Ukrainian laboratories to manufacture biological weapons of mass destruction, or even American military aid to Ukraine, which will be the main reason for prolonging the conflict. China’s ambassador to Russia even went so far as to announce that there was a consensus around the world that NATO had sparked the conflict in Ukraine. All these claims are false. But Russian media repeat articles from Chinese media to show that these assertions do not necessarily come from them or are universal.

2) Does the report provide new facts?

The report offers relatively few new facts about the workings of Chinese propaganda, but it shows that its influence is expanding rapidly. For example, the Chinese government offers scholarships and paid trips to China to about a hundred journalists from African countries. These journalists are strongly encouraged to write extremely pro-China articles. In 2021, in Pakistan, the Chinese authorities proposed to the Pakistani authorities (who were not very interested) mechanisms to control all information produced by Pakistani society.

3) On what issues does the Chinese government intervene more than others?

The Chinese government intervenes in particular abroad in five areas: Taiwan, human rights, maritime borders claimed by China, the image of the Chinese economy, and international economic issues.

4) Why is the US government issuing this report now?

It is clear that the US government fears that the Chinese government will increasingly succeed in manipulating global opinion in its favor, especially in countries that are not democratic, but also among the Chinese diaspora. Moreover, the US government announced that it had resumed negotiations with the Chinese government in many areas. The report could increase pressure on the Chinese government.

5) Does the US government also do propaganda?

It would be naive to think that the US government does not engage in propaganda. However, there is no parity between press freedom prevailing in the United States and democracies in general, compared to the tight censorship that prevails in China and Russia. The special report on Chinese propaganda clearly represents a counter-propaganda effort. However, it is based on the belief that revealing the opponent’s propaganda mechanisms weakens that propaganda. Will the Chinese government issue a similar document about US propaganda? There is room for doubt.