China spending billions to spread disinformation – US report

MANILA, Philippines — China is spending billions of dollars globally to spread disinformation and threatening to cause a “sharp contraction” in freedom of speech around the world, the US State Department warned in a report published Thursday.

China’s “global information manipulation is not simply a matter of public diplomacy – but a challenge to the integrity of the global information space,” the report said.

“Unchecked, Beijing’s efforts could result in a future in which technology exported by the PRC (People’s Republic of China), co-opted local governments, and fear of Beijing’s direct retaliation produce a sharp contraction of global freedom of expression.”

The report, released by the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, said Beijing spends billions of dollars annually on “foreign information manipulation” through the use of propaganda, disinformation and censorship, while promoting positive news about China and its ruling Communist Party.

At the same time, it said, China suppresses critical information that contradicts its narratives on contentious issues such as Taiwan, human rights and its flagging domestic economy.

“When you look at the pieces of the puzzle and you put it together, you see a breathtaking ambition on the part of the PRC to seek information dominance in key regions of the world,” James Rubin, GEC special envoy and coordinator, told reporters.

“If we don’t allow this information manipulation to be stopped, there’s going to be a slow, steady destruction of democratic values,” he said. “We don’t want to see an Orwellian mix of fact and fiction in our world.”

The report said China’s approach to information manipulation includes promoting “digital authoritarianism,” exploiting international organizations and exercising control of Chinese-language media.

Beijing, it added, had also acquired stakes in foreign media, sponsored online influencers and sought to co-opt foreign political elites and journalists.

The US State Department specifically alleged that China Central Television, a state outlet, provides free video footage and television scripts to 1,700 foreign news organizations and media groups.

“In many cases, content produced by PRC official media is repackaged for local outlets without branding that would identify it as coming from a foreign government,” it said.

Africa presence

In Africa, China has become a leading provider of digital television services through StarTimes and by controlling cable TV service providers, it now wields the power to determine which stations viewers can access by excluding Western news channels from basic packages.

“As of 2021, almost 100 influencers disseminated official PRC messaging in at least two dozen languages on multiple social media platforms to a combined audience of over 11 million followers in dozens of countries,” the report noted.

In East Africa, the report alleged that China “paid for favorable coverage” in a local newspaper while concealing its sponsorship of content, and had sought to gain “significant control over Pakistani media.”

These efforts could enable Beijing to “reshape the global information environment,” the report said.

The report added that in September 2019, Huawei’s French subsidiary filed a defamation suit – which it ultimately withdrew in July 2022 – against a French researcher and the talk show that hosted her after she said that Huawei was under the control of Beijing due to the presence of a China Communist Party committee within the company.

“With assistance from Beijing, foreign governments have used Huawei systems worth hundreds of millions of dollars to support police work and even to intercept the electronic communications and cellular location data of domestic political opposition members,” it added.

In November 2021, the US State Department said at least 18 countries used Huawei-manufactured middleboxes, which facilitate and inspect internet traffic on some online networks, to block access to certain sites.

The report accused China of exploiting social media site WeChat to disseminate disinformation targeting “Chinese-language speakers residing in democracies,” and Chinese technology giant ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, of seeking to “block potential critics of Beijing from using its platforms.” There was no immediate response to the report from Beijing.

The report comes after Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said China was seeking to surpass the US as the “dominant power in the world – militarily, economically, diplomatically.”

Phl actions praised

Meanwhile, top US defense officials have expressed before lawmakers their concern over China’s continued militarization in the South China Sea, and praised the Philippines for its stepped up effort to expose and publicize China’s acts of provocations.

The US officials appeared before the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific yesterday to discuss and expose China’s harassing its neighboring countries in the Indo-Pacific Region particularly the Philippines.

During the hearing, US Assistant Defense Secretary for South and Southeast Asia Lindsey Ford acknowledged how the Marcos administration has been increasingly vocal about China’s coercion including the use of a water cannon against foreign vessels. She also praised the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) for removing a floating barrier installed by China Coast Guard (CCG) in Panatag Shoal.

“Earlier this week, the PCG defended Philippine sovereignty and traditional fishing rights by removing a floating barrier installed by the CCG near (Panatag) Scarborough Shoal. And despite repeated incidences of harassment, the Philippines has continued to defend its right to resupply its garrison at Second Thomas Shoal – or Ayungin Shoal – a low-tide elevation that lies within the Philippine exclusive economic zone,” she said.

In her testimony, Ford said China has, over the past decade, “continued to expand its military and law enforcement presence in the South China Sea, harass the legitimate economic activities of other claimants, and interfere with the ability of other states to exercise navigational rights and freedoms under international law.”

She also cited China’s reclamation activities to build island fortresses. “Over the past decade, the PRC has added more than 3,200 acres of land to its seven occupied outposts in the Spratly Islands, which now feature airfields, berthing areas, and resupply facilities to support persistent PRC military and paramilitary presence in the region,” she pointed out.

“The PRC uses these outposts to support People’s Armed Forces Maritime Militia vessels, People’s Liberation Army Navy deployments, and China Coast Guard operations in the South China Sea, including routine harassment of Southeast Asian nations’ vessels and assets, undermining these nations’ sovereign rights under international law,” she added.

She stressed the need for the US to address the matter by “bolstering the self-defense capabilities of our allies and partners.”

Ford said the US is boosting its partnership with allies and partners by helping increase interoperability, strengthening deterrence and highlighting shared resolve against coercive behavior.

She told lawmakers of the recent joint bilateral sail by the US Navy and Philippine Navy in the South China Sea – their first since 2016.

She also cited last year’s Balikatan exercises with the Philippines involving more than 17,600 members of the US, Philippine, and Australian forces.

“Finally, in June of this year, the coast guards of the United States, Japan, and the Philippines launched their first-ever trilateral drills in the South China Sea, in what is becoming a steady drumbeat of coast guard deployments to the region,” Ford said.