US warns of Chinese global disinformation campaign
For much of the world, China's Xinjiang region is notorious, a place where ethnic Uyghurs face forced labor and arbitrary detention. But a group of visiting foreign journalists was left with a decidedly different impression.
On a tour in late September sponsored by Beijing, the 22 journalists from 17 countries visited bazaars and chatted with residents over dates and watermelon slices. They later told state media they were impressed with the bustling economy, described the region as “full of cultural, religious and ethnic diversity,” and denounced what they said were lies by Western media.
The trip is an example of what Washington sees as Beijing's growing efforts to reshape the global narrative on China. It's spending billions of dollars annually to do so.
In a first-of-its-kind report, the State Department last week laid out Beijing's tactics and techniques for molding public opinion, such as buying content, creating fake personas to spread its message and using repression to quash unfavorable accounts.
The Global Engagement Center, a State Department agency that's tasked with combating foreign propaganda and disinformation and that released the 58page report, warned that
Beijing's information campaign could eventually sway how decisions are made around the world and undermine U.S. interests.
“Unchecked, the (Chinese government's) information manipulation could in many parts of the world diminish freedom to express views critical of Beijing,” said Jamie Rubin, who heads the center. He said Beijing's efforts could “transform the global information landscape and damage the security and stability of the United States, its friends, and partners.”
“We don't want to see an Orwellian mix of fact and fiction in our world,” he said. “That will destroy the secure world of rules and rights that the United States and much of the world relies upon.”
China over the weekend slammed the report, calling
it “in itself disinformation as it misrepresents facts and truth.”
“In fact, it is the U.S. that invented the weaponizing of the global information space,” the Chinese foreign ministry said. It called the State Department agency “a source of disinformation and the command center of `perception warfare.'”
In a written statement, Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said the report was “just another tool to keep China down and buttress American hegemony.”
Beijing argues that Western media have long held biases against China and at times have demonized it. Chinese President Xi Jinping has demanded that China tell its story to the world so Beijing would be trusted and respected.