For a long time, it was said that China, unlike Russia, sought more to be loved than feared; that she wanted to seduce, to project a positive image of herself in the world, to arouse admiration. Beijing has not given up on seducing, its attractiveness and its ambition to shape international standards, and it remains essential for the Communist Party not to "lose face". But, at the same time, Beijing is increasingly assuming to infiltrate and coerce: its influence operations have hardened considerably in recent years and its methods increasingly resemble those employed by Moscow. It is a "Machiavellian moment" in the sense that the Party-State now seems to believe that, as Machiavelli wrote in The Prince, "it is safer to be feared than to be loved".
This report focuses on this development, with the ambition to cover the entire spectrum of influence, from the most benign (public diplomacy) to the most malignant, that is to say interference (clandestine activities) . To do this, it proceeds in four parts, successively presenting the main concepts; the actors implementing these operations, in particular Base 311 of the People's Liberation Army; the actions taken by Beijing with regard to the diasporas, the media, diplomacy, the economy, politics, education, think tanks and in terms of information manipulation, among other levers; and finally some case studies (Taiwan, Singapore, Sweden, Canada, and the operations targeting Hong Kong protesters in 2019 or trying to make people believe in the American origin of Covid-19 in 2020). The conclusion returns to this "Russianization", which has three components: Beijing is inspired by Moscow in several registers, there are obviously differences between the two, and there is also a certain degree of cooperation. Finally, the report assesses the effectiveness of this new Chinese posture which can be proud of certain tactical successes, but constitutes a strategic failure.
Authors: Paul Charon and Jean-Baptiste Jeangène Vilmer
Full 646 pages report here
This report focuses on this development, with the ambition to cover the entire spectrum of influence, from the most benign (public diplomacy) to the most malignant, that is to say interference (clandestine activities) . To do this, it proceeds in four parts, successively presenting the main concepts; the actors implementing these operations, in particular Base 311 of the People's Liberation Army; the actions taken by Beijing with regard to the diasporas, the media, diplomacy, the economy, politics, education, think tanks and in terms of information manipulation, among other levers; and finally some case studies (Taiwan, Singapore, Sweden, Canada, and the operations targeting Hong Kong protesters in 2019 or trying to make people believe in the American origin of Covid-19 in 2020). The conclusion returns to this "Russianization", which has three components: Beijing is inspired by Moscow in several registers, there are obviously differences between the two, and there is also a certain degree of cooperation. Finally, the report assesses the effectiveness of this new Chinese posture which can be proud of certain tactical successes, but constitutes a strategic failure.
Authors: Paul Charon and Jean-Baptiste Jeangène Vilmer
Full 646 pages report here
