Why China uses disinformation to prove it's better than everyone else.
Once again, everyone bad except China.
There’s been a lot going on in the China news recently, from predictions about China’s economic recovery to the US declaring China’s treatment of Uyghurs a genocide. I feel we’ve spoken a lot about economics so far in past newsletters, and I’ve already done a podcast covering the history of the Uyghurs in China since the medieval period (which you can listen to here). So for this week’s newsletter I’ve decided to go for a story that caught my eye about how Chinese state media is spreading rumours about the Pfizer vaccine killing people in Germany.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Apparently in an attempt to promote use of its own vaccine, particularly in developing countries, Chinese state media launched a campaign to not only downplay the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine, but to insinuate that it had killed several elderly people in Germany and Norway.
An article in the Global Times stated that “the new mRNA vaccine was developed in haste and had never been used on a large scale for the prevention of infectious disease, and its safety had not been confirmed for large-scale use in humans.”
“But that's not the case for inactivated vaccines in China, which have more mature technology,” apparently. Thank God. Also, China’s vaccine is better because the Pfizer one needs to be stored at strict temperatures, whereas you can just bung the Chinese one in the fridge. Win.
Also, in a different article, they literally led by quoting a Filipino spokesperson who said those who want to be vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine have a ‘colonial mentality’. But I’m sure they didn’t mean anything by it.
Several Western outlets have since come out to state that the people who passed away were old and sick and that probably had more to do with their deaths than a vaccine that has apparently been given to around 14 million people with no problems. But then who am I to debunk someone else’s conspiracy theory?
So today we’re talking about China’s penchant for spreading fake news, the CCP’s different means for doing so, and discuss some of the high profile cases we’ve seen over the past few years. First, let’s define what exactly we mean by disinformation compared to other kinds of information campaigns.
Difference between disinformation and propaganda
China is already well-known for its large-scale propaganda campaigns. Ever since the early 1950s, propaganda has been one of the main tools of the CCP to not only spread information about different economic and social campaigns, but also to get people on board with the campaigns.
The purpose of propaganda is to present an idea, movement, campaign or people (or government) in a positive light. In socialist countries, propaganda traditionally was used to show a bright image of the future that would be achieved after the campaign, or would show the people working harmoniously together to achieve said bright future. If you’re interested in exploring Chinese propaganda posters, a good source is chineseposters.net which has an archive stretching back to the 1920s!
Disinformation differs from propaganda in that it is intended to deliberately mislead the public through either concentrated or general release of false information. Of course, propaganda can also be used to undermine (for example, to attack the enemy in war time) and can also feature false information. The main difference comes when thinking about the target audience and purpose - while propaganda’s main purpose is to engage and mobilise, disinformation aims to create apathy, anxiety, and paranoia, usually in the opposing camp.
China’s disinformation capabilities are relatively new, having really taken off in the internet age. While by no means sophisticated, China has the resources to employ enough ‘trolls’ - colloquially known as the “50 cent army” or “wu mao” - to spread rumours about pretty much any issue. A report from 2017 showed that China employs around 2 million people to write on social media - cheerleading China or providing negative opinions about other regimes. They create half a billion posts a year, at least on Chinese platforms.
Another study reveals that Chinese state media use paid ads on websites like Facebook to promote their coronavirus narrative. Specifically, they share positive stories about China’s response to the pandemic, while also pointing fingers at ‘shady outside forces’ to deflect responsibility from any incriminating evidence that may arise.
So, apart from the most recent case of Covid-19 related campaigns, what other dis/misinformation campaigns have the CCP launched in the past to cast themselves in a more positive light, while bringing shame upon their detractors?
Meddling in Taiwanese Elections
At the end of 2019 it was revealed (to everyone’s great surprise) that China had been waging a disinformation campaign against soon-to-be-elected presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen. Tsai had been running on the campaign slogan “Resist China, Defend Taiwan,” claiming that China’s expansion was a direct threat to Taiwanese democracy, in stark contrast to KMT leader Han Kuo-Yu who favoured closer ties with the mainland.
According to a study, Taiwan is one of the countries most vulnerable to disinformation, no doubt because of China’s persistence in claiming the island nation as part of the PRC and its attempts to convince Taiwan’s residents of the fact. China not only spreads their messages against Tsai using social media posts on Taiwanese and international sites such as Facebook and Twitter, they also pushed for innovation by trying to enlist online celebrities in Taiwan, such as live-streamers and professional e-sports players.
Here are just some of the rumours and fake news tidbits that were spread as part of the ‘campaign’ (inverted commas because there’s no hard proof it was centrally organised by the CCP):
Tsai’s doctorate degree is fake
Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong kicked an elderly man when he visited Taiwan
Protests were being held outside Taiwan’s parliament
Any ballots cast for the KMT would be automatically invalidated
The situation is being taken seriously by the Taiwanese government, who have strengthened laws against online disinformation, and there are independent agencies in Taiwan who work to correct misinformation and verify facts. (Also please read the comments of the NYT article they are… a read).
Hong Kong Protests
In case you missed it, there were protests in Hong Kong in 2019 and 2020. Agree or disagree with the initial reasons for protests, the escalation in demands, or actions taken by both sides, there is no doubt that China has since ramped up restrictions on the island’s residents and attempts to control the narrative about what’s really going on.
There are examples of Chinese state affiliated media rewriting the script in certain incidences to make the protesters seem like the instigators. For example, the case of the woman shot in the eye by a police officer was reported in Chinese state media as a paid provocateur who had been attacked by other protesters.
Another problem was the buying of Twitter accounts popular in different countries including Hong Kong, and gradually changing the language they posted into either English or Chinese to try and control the dissemination of information and conversations about the protests. In August 2019 Twitter announced that it had shut down 1,000 accounts and suspended 200,000 others in an attempt to squash the “disinformation offensive from China.” Though Twitter is blocked in Mainland China, the company directly linked the accounts to an orchestrated campaign by the CCP, as did other tech giants Facebook and Google.
Though China’s attempts to control the narrative may seem ham-fisted to Western observers, there’s no doubt that they’ve had some impact where it matters: Hong Kong. The story of a small band of violent protesters working against the hardworking, internationally respected Hong Kong police is readily accepted by many Hong Kongers, especially those in older generations. The situation has become increasingly alarming in recent months: news broke in December of top investigative journalists, renowned for their reports on mainland China, having been fired from their positions in one of the city’s leading networks.
It remains to be seen how far the issue of protests, violence, and CCP crackdowns in the city will affect Hong Kong families. Many may be torn apart as they choose to leave or stay. But those who stay will have to adapt to the growing reality that the information they see will most likely have been run through an ‘officially approved filter’ before they receive it.
The Future of Fake News
As technology and China’s grasp of it develops further, it seems that opportunities to spread misinformation will only increase over the coming years. This is particularly important to note when thinking about how China’s powers of technology may link up with its economic activities in developing countries. Not only has China very kindly built roads, railways and airports for other developing nations, they also offer to train their journalists, a move they admit is an attempt to boost their own soft power. Think of that what you will.
Of course, it’s not just China that is rife with disinformation. Any casual social media user will tell you that Twitter is a cesspool and that any notification you receive on Facebook telling you a friend has made a 600-word long post two days before a national election is better left unread.
How then can one combat global disinformation, whether it be orchestrated by nefarious totalitarian governments or unwittingly spread by an old school ‘friend’ who got a D in Biology?
To be on the safe side just do what I do: don’t read the news and use social media for entertainment purposes only.
Sources
China Daily, “China boosts soft power by training foreign journalists”
Fortune, “No direct link between the COVID vaccine and a recent string of deaths in the elderly, Norway finds”
Global Times, “Chinese health experts call to suspend Pfizer's mRNA vaccine for elderly after Norwegian deaths”
Global Times, “Chinese vaccines offer developing countries safer, affordable options”
Hong Kong Free Press, “i-Cable’s China reporters resign in protest after 40 colleagues sacked”
Hong Kong Free Press, “War at the dinner table: Hong Kong families divided over protests”
Misinformation Review, “Pandemics & propaganda: How Chinese state media creates and propagates CCP coronavirus narratives”
New York Times, “Awash in Disinformation Before Vote, Taiwan Points Finger at China”
Taipei Times, “False information on the rise in Taiwan: academic”
The Guardian, “Taiwan's citizens battle pro-China fake news campaigns as election nears”