The U.S. State Department believes China is investing billions of dollars annually toward a global disinformation campaign to advance its national interests.
Published Thursday, the Global Engagement Center report found that Beijing is using online troll armies, litigation against critics, foreign investments, and content-sharing agreements to further its goals.
The government also appears to be creating fake, English-language authors to launder sympathetic articles in local media and threatens universities and newspapers that publish critical content.
"When you look at the pieces of the puzzle and put it together, you see a breathtaking ambition on the part of the PRC [People's Republic of China] to seek information dominance in key regions of the world," said James Rubin, the GEC's special envoy and coordinator.
According to the report, China has used its information apparatus to reinforce Russia's narrative on the war in Ukraine, specifically claims of instigation by NATO.
Russia appears to have responded by promoting Chinese claims that it is the rightful owner of Taiwan.
But the propaganda machine has yielded "mixed results" globally. Meta, for example, said last month it took down thousands of accounts on Facebook and Instagram linked to the Chinese government.
"This is the biggest single takedown of a single network we have ever conducted," Ben Nimmo, head of Meta's security team, told The New York Times. "When you put it together with all the activity we took down across the internet, we concluded it is the largest covert campaign that we know of today."
Still, other targets appear to have yielded success, including China's investments in satellite networks and intimidation of international companies that it views as threatening to the country.
The report also found that Chinese officials in 2021 agreed to pay a newspaper in an East African country to publish articles favorable to Beijing while hiding its sponsorship.
Luca Cacciatore ✉
Luca Cacciatore, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is based in Arlington, Virginia, reporting on news and politics.
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