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Browse resources on authoritarian sharp power and its effects on the integrity of institutions and globalized spaces.
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Publication Date: September 28, 2023
How the People’s Republic of China Seeks to Reshape the Global Information Environment
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Global
The PRC has sought to shape the global information landscape in its favor through information manipulation, intimidation, co-opting journalists and enabling digital authoritarianism with cutting-edge technology.
Source: Foreign Policy Research Institute
Publication Date: September 19, 2023
China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Politics Over Economics
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Global
Author: Felix K. Chang
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been expected to enter a new phase following the PRC’s Third BRI Forum in October 2023. With over 150 countries participating in the BRI, China’s plans for its signature initiative have appeared increasingly political and less focused on infrastructure development.
Publication Date: October 18, 2023
Indonesia, China Vow to Expand Economic Cooperation
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Asia-Pacific, Indonesia
Author: Sebastian Strangio
The third Belt and Road Forum, in October 2023, demonstrated that many Southeast Asian leaders see China as the key to their nations’ prosperity, helping them to build infrastructure and adopt new technologies. That dependence may discourage leaders from challenging China’s anti-democratic rhetoric.
Publication Date: November 16, 2023
China’s Expanding Health Diplomacy in Indonesia
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Asia-Pacific, Indonesia
Author: Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, Yeta Purnama
While the Chinese and Indonesian government began cooperating during the COVID-19 pandemic on vaccine distribution, Beijing has recently increased its investment in Indonesia’s health sector to push back against negative perceptions of China among a majority of Indonesians.
Source: Balkan Insight
Publication Date: March 29, 2023
Montenegro Signs Contract With Chinese Company to Build Coastal Highway
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Europe, Montenegro
Author: Samir Kajosevic
The government of Montenegro partnered with a Chinese corporation that is known for maintaining secrecy in other regional projects. This lack of accountability is characteristic of Chinese Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure projects.
Publication Date: March 27, 2023
Europe Fights Back Against Chinese and Russian “Elite Capture”
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Europe, Italy
Author: Gabriele Carrer
China’s investments in European businesses opened opportunities for elite capture by offering jobs or board appointments to retired politicians and other influential individuals. In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Italy has taken a more skeptical look at these investments.
Source: Foreign Policy Research Institute
Publication Date: March 23, 2023
China is Finally Making Progress on the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Eurasia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan
Author: Niva Yau, Tsz Yan
Beijing secured the rights to build a new railway linking Xinjiang with Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan after many delays. The new project could advance China’s geopolitical interests and secure support among Central Asian elites for Chinese legitimacy claims in Xinjiang .
Publication Date: March 23, 2023
China, Russia Target Audiences Online With Deep Fakes, Replica Front Pages
Authoritarian Country: China, Russia
Affected Region: Global
Author: Liam Scott
Concern has grown over Russia and China’s use of AI to impersonate trusted international media outlets and personalities in bids to manipulate information around the globe. Researchers anticipate the volume and quality of deep fakes to intensify, contributing to a further erosion of trust in media.
Publication Date: March 1, 2024
Biden Orders US Investigation of National Security Risks Posed by Chinese-Made ‘Smart Cars’
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: North America, United States
Author: Matthew Daly
The Biden administration has ordered an investigation into Chinese-made smart vehicles that pose national security risks including data collection, remote controlling and espionage. US officials are concerned that Chinese companies are finding ways to evade tariffs and pre-existing restrictions placed on Chinese cars.
Source: Balkan Insight
Publication Date: June 22, 2023
Social Controls: China- Style Surveillance is Coming to Serbia
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Europe, Serbia
Author: Maja Bjelos
Serbian government and state-owned enterprises have increasingly adopted Chinese surveillance technologies capable of penetrating users’ devices and acquiring large amounts of data. Chinese technological influence in Serbia has risked individual privacy and freedoms.
Publication Date: June 21, 2023
U.S. Tracked Huawei, ZTE Workers at Suspected Chinese Spy Sites
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: North America, United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, Cuba
Author: Kate O’Keefe
Employees of Chinese phone companies Huawei and ZTE were tied to suspected spy operations in Cuba. The companies’ specialization in technology like servers and network equipment could help obtain and transmit information to Chinese intelligence.
Source: Associated Press
Publication Date: June 16, 2023
Exhibition by Chinese Dissident Artist Opens in Warsaw Despite Pressure From China
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Europe, Poland
Author: Vanessa Gera
The Chinese Embassy in Poland sought to halt the opening of an art exhibition by an exiled Chinese dissident that dealt with subject metter ciritcal to the Beijing. The attempted censorship reveals the party-state’s determination to limit transnational criticism of the regime.
Publication Date: June 13, 2023
Chinese Activist Missing From Vientiane After Launching Anti-Censorship Campaign
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Asia-Pacific, Laos
Author: Gao Feng, Xiaoshan Huang, Chingman
A Chinese free-speech activist based in Laos was labeled missing after launching an anti-censorship campaign targeted at China. The Chinese government has targeted dissidents abroad using tactics of transnational repression, seen through both physical and online harassment.
Publication Date: June 13, 2023
The Chinese Communist Party’s Campaign on University Campuses
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: North America, United States
Author: Ellen Bork
The People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s influence activities at American universities, part of an agenda to project Chinese power globally and undermine liberal democratic norms, range from seemingly benign activities like exchanges and language and culture programming to intimidation and threats.
Publication Date: June 12, 2023
Chinese Highway Project in Georgia Brings Hope, Scandal, and Change
Authoritarian Country: China
Affected Region: Eurasia, Georgia
Author: Reid Standish, Tamuna Chkareuli
Chinese companies began to build a highway that crosses Georgia, to boost its infrastructure and economy. The project demonstrates China’s effort to strengthen its presence in Georgia, although the project has raised concerns of corruption in the tender process and environmental effects.