The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to sway Italian leaders and prominent figures so as to mold policy and public opinion in its favor, says a new report. The CCP’s activities in Italy are part of a broader plan to expand the party’s influence globally, says the report published on Nov. 20 by researchers at Sinopsis, a project by non-profit AcaMedia z.u., in collaboration with the Department of Sinology at Charles University in Prague—and the Global Committee for the Rule of Law “Marco Pannella”. The report, titled “Hijacking the mainstream,” (pdf) delves into the CCP’s foreign agencies and its operations to influence Italian politics from the national to the municipal level, targeting members of Parliament, political parties, officials, as well as leading figures from the media and think tanks. According to the paper, the CCP’s influence in foreign countries helps further its foreign policy objectives, while protecting and cementing its “authoritarian …