China expands its global media presence

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its proxies “are using increasingly sophisticated and coercive tactics to influence media coverage and suppress critical reports.”

It includes intimidation of journalists, according to “Beijing’s Global Media Influence 2022,” a report released in September by U.S.-based human rights and democracy nonprofit Freedom House.

“Political and economic pressure through the signing of free trade agreements is a mechanism Beijing uses with emerging or developing countries,” said Luis Ángel Hurtado, a political communications expert and professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

The report examines China’s infiltration tactics in the press in thirty countries, sixteen of which are classified as high or very high infiltration countries.

Argentina, Spain, the United States, and the United Kingdom are among the most affected countries.

Mass dissemination of Beijing-backed content through mainstream media, harassment, cyberbullying, intimidation of media outlets that publish news or opinions disapproved by the Chinese government, fake social media accounts, and targeted disinformation campaigns are among the most common tactics used, the report states.

According to the report, the Chinese government creates avenues for its media to reach large audiences, promotes self-censorship on topics disapproved of by the CCP, and uses government officials and media owners to help spread propaganda news in some countries.

“In all countries studied, Chinese diplomats or [Chinese] state media openly disseminated falsehoods or misleading content to news consumers,” Ellie Young, Freedom House research analyst for China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, told the Central American online magazine Expediente Público.

In half of the countries studied, China has taken steps to intimidate, harass, or pressure journalists, editors, or commentators to report on the country.

In some cases, the report said they had been asked to retract or remove unflattering content, often backed by implicit or explicit threats to harm bilateral relations, withdraw advertisements, or bring libel suits.

Beijing’s disinformation strategy aims to position China as the new benevolent hegemon (as an alternative to the United States) and as the dominant power in the current international system, according to the report “Measuring the Impact of Misinformation, Disinformation, and Propaganda in Latin America” by the U.S.-based think tank Global Americans.

LATIN AMERICA

In Latin American countries studied by Freedom House, Chinese state media such as Xinhua, China Global Television Network, China Hoy magazine, China Radio International, and China Daily renewed cooperation agreements with publicly funded media in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Panama, and Peru.

China also signed new agreements with several private media companies.

In Argentina, the Freedom House report found evidence of Chinese troll activity, with suspicious accounts amplifying Chinese state media publications. Beijing’s media lobbying in Chile increased in 2019-2021.

It was reflected in new diplomatic social media accounts, more active embassy messaging, and continued pressure to deepen ties with local news producers through content-sharing agreements.

Since 2018, dozens of journalists from across the political and geographic spectrum of Panamanian media have traveled to China as tourists or for training purposes at the expense of the Chinese government or Chinese telecommunications company Huawei-a company with close ties to the CCP.

These trips are often used to discourage participants from negative reporting, the Freedom House report said. Major public and private media outlets in Peru share Chinese state media content.

For non-democratic states like China, these media outlets and their activities reflect a long-term strategy to achieve geostrategic and territorial goals by building allies, undermining U.S. and Western influence, and reordering the international order, “Global Americans” said in its report.

“Five years ago, China began expanding its television, radio, magazines, and state news agencies in different parts of the world in other languages, such as Spanish,” Hurtado said. “It is counting on this to change its image and gain influence.”

MEDIA LITERACY

To counter these actions by China, Latin American countries “need to introduce media literacy, as in liberal and democratic countries [in Europe and the United States], to use the media properly, even in times of crisis,” Hurtado said.

Governments, media, civil society, and technology companies all have a role to play in improving democratic resilience in the face of the CCP’s increasingly aggressive influence efforts, the Freedom House study concludes.

With information from Latina Press