If we were to delve into the topic of Chinese influence operations one could only imagine how many there are nowadays. Luckily researches of IRSEM (Institut de Recherche Stratégique de l’Ecole Militaire) have made a well honed report dating 2021 about such influences. As the executive summary of this report states:
“For a long time, it could be said that China, unlike Russia, sought to be loved rather than to be feared; that it wanted to seduce, project a positive image of itself in the world, and arouse admiration. Today, Beijing has not given up on seduction, on its attractiveness, and on its ambition to shape international norms. Not “losing face” remains very important for the CCP. And yet, Beijing is also increasingly comfortable with infiltration and coercion: its influence operations have been considerably hardened in recent years and its methods increasingly resemble Moscow’s. The Party-State has entered a “Machiavellian moment” in the sense that Beijing now appears to believe that, as Machiavelli wrote in The Prince, “it is better to be feared than loved.” This evolution shows a “Russification” of Chinese influence operations. And our report analyzes this evolution, with the ambition of covering the entire spectrum of its tools of influence, from the most benign (public diplomacy) to the most malign – which means interfering in other countries’ affairs (clandestine activities). To do so, our analysis proceeds in four parts, successively presenting the concepts, actors, actions pertaining to this moment, and it ends with several case studies.’’
The report gives an in-depth analysis of which concepts the CCP uses to facilitate its influence operations and the main actors that are involved in the playout. It clearly states that the main actors are emanations from the Party, the State , the Army and companies. Reality has shown us that the CCP is behind every element of Chinese operations. Such as the Propaganda Department which oversees the entire media spectrum and the cultural production in China, the United Front Work Department (UFWD), the 610 office which uses its covert an illegal agents around the world to eliminate the peaceful meditation discipline Falun Gong and also the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The report also hints at the fact that new technologies such as the Chinese digital platforms WeChat, Weibo, TikTok, and companies like Beidou and Huawai are used to prepare and feed the CCP’s influence operation abroad.
Recent developments have proved to be confirming the findings of the IRSEM researchers. Such as the banning of the use of Huawai and TikTok due to these companies being data resources for the CCP’s Artificial Intelligence operations.
A free copy of the report can be downloaded on the website of IRSEM, please click here.
