Case studies on South Africa, Venezuela, and Iran reveal evidence of a symbiotic relationship between Beijing’s efforts to enhance its discourse power—including by co-opting the voices of foreign leaders—and local governments’ efforts to weaken the checks and balances that civil…

Three tactics played an outsized role in the Chinese Communist Party’s campaign to shape public opinion about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: flagship state media echoing Russian state disinformation, manipulation of social media hashtags, and censorship of alternative viewpoints and information…

The relationship between PRC rules, the Chinese entertainment industry, and U.S. media conglomerates underscores a transition in the role of entertainment in politics. Beijing increasingly weaponizes technology and corporations’ dependence on political authorities for market access to control content.

Emerging technologies, particularly those utilizing big data, are a critical component of the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to manipulate global audiences. Large datasets can reveal trends in human behavior, enabling the party-state to better understand public sentiment and disseminate propaganda.

Previously established cooperation agreements laid the groundwork for Russian and Chinese state media and state-linked social media to work in tandem to influence public opinion in China, Taiwan, and the Chinese diaspora in favor of the invasion of Ukraine on…

The Chinese Communist Party has built a network of social media personalities who proffer propaganda to users around the globe, operating in lockstep as they deflect international criticism of human rights abuses and advance Beijing’s talking points on world affairs…

Beijing has managed to institutionalize and normalize its “One China” Principle and stance on Taiwan within the United Nations (UN) by signing secret agreements with UN bodies, restricting Taiwan’s access to the UN and its facilities, and embedding PRC nationals…

Although the Chinese government touts its dealings in Africa as partnerships among equals, overall they fall far short of that ideal. Beijing’s high-flown rhetoric masks a deeply asymmetrical relationship full of unfulfilled promises, hidden costs, and corrosive impacts.

Authorities in Istanbul closed a Uyghur elementary school over alleged pressure from PRC officials who worried students had received anti-China instruction. The dispute came amid increasing relations between the countries, including a bilateral agreement to exchange information on terrorism financing.

Automated pro-China accounts flooded Twitter with spam-like tweets using #GenocideGames, a hashtag initially shared by activists to raise awareness about human rights violations in Xinjiang. Researchers said the tactic diluted the hashtag’s power to galvanize criticism of Beijing during the…

Confucius Institutes have actively stifled scholarship deemed detrimental to the interests of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In Latin America and the Caribbean, they provided the PRC with an effective instrument for creating long-term support for CCP business and political…

Beijing continues to actively undermine strong democracies, enthusiastically support illiberal forces in fragile democracies, and diligently create relationships of mutual dependence among non-democracies. Outright coercion, disinformation, censorship, and influence-peddling campaigns are commonplace.

The governments of China and Russia, two countries with a history of censoring the internet, banning social media platforms, jailing dissidents, and launching misinformation campaigns, issued a joint statement affirming their support for the “equal rights of countries to regulate…

Chinese authorities leveraged bots, fake accounts, genuine social media influencers, and other tools to shape how the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing were portrayed, even outside the country.

Russia is not expanding its influence in Africa just through the use of military contractors; it has also made a hardcore diplomatic push across the continent and views Africa as both a provenance for resources for its state-owned companies and…