FPI / September 5, 2021
Geostrategy-Direct
China’s widespread and surprisingly effective global influence activities have gone largely unchallenged by the U.S. government despite the creation several years ago of the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, a unit in charge of countering foreign influence campaigns.
A provision in the U.S. House of Representatives’ version of the fiscal 2022 defense authorization bill calls on the Pentagon, State Department and American intelligence agencies to start providing detailed reports on Chinese influence campaigns targeting U.S. military alliances and partnerships.
The House bill would mandate reports that assess Chinese influence operations and publicize a list of all Chinese state and non-state organizations involved in the operations.
The reports also would identify tactics, techniques and procedures used in previous influence operations.
Additionally, the reports would assess the impact of Chinese influence campaigns, including the views of senior Chinese government officials on the effectiveness of the operations.
The influence operations, which seek to promote Beijing’s propaganda themes and policies, are conducted under the direction of a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organ called the United Front Work Department, security correspondent Bill Gertz reported for the Washington Times.
The activities are carried out by Chinese state media, diplomats, and intelligence personnel.
An example of such operations is the global disinformation campaign launched by communist officials who seek to blame the U.S. Army for the coronavirus pandemic.
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