Commentary
It’s common knowledge that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) runs a tightly-controlled, carefully-choreographed media empire. This expansive operation reaches almost every corner of the globe, influencing narratives and molding the minds of the masses.
In recent years, the CCP has intensified its push to exercise complete control over the global narrative. Some countries are particularly receptive to the CCP’s demands. A recent report, published by the good people at Freedom House, identified a number of countries where China’s interference is particularly strong. Worryingly, the United States is one of them.
According to the lengthy report, aptly titled “Beijing’s Global Media Influence: Authoritarian Expansion and the Power of Democratic Resilience,” the CCP’s media influence efforts were deemed “high” or “very high” in 16 of the 30 countries analyzed. Not surprisingly, Taiwan, the United States, China’s biggest rival, and the United Kingdom, a country with close ties to China, experienced the most penetrative influence efforts. Other countries that have also experienced intense levels of Chinese interference include Argentina, Italy, Kenya, the Philippines, and Spain. The influence operation, as is clear to see, is very much global in nature….