A French report reveals the gigantism of Chinese influence networks in the world – franceinfo

The report of the Strategic Research Institute ofEMilitary school (Irsem) shows the extent of the networks developed by China in the space of a few years. This work, which the international editorial staff of Radio France was able to consult in preview, is unveiled on Monday, September 20 at the moment when, after the episode of the Australian submarines, France is questioning its geopolitical position between the United States. United and China. The result of two years of work, the report highlights several Chinese disinformation operations. All-round networks, with countless players, and ultra-rapid professionalization. There are of course classic and legal relays, the diasporas, diplomats, universities, soft power such as cinema. And there are much more murky large-scale disinformation operations, for example in Taiwan, Sweden, or the Covid, with sometimes millions of people involved in the fake news operations.

A military base and an army of trolls

The headquarters of Chinese influence operations is the People’s Army 311 base. Based in Fuzhou in the south of the country, hidden behind the address of a nearby swimming pool, base 311 has nine units identified by the report, it conducts influence operations via radio stations, houses of publishing, universities. Even more monumental: “the army of 50 cents”. These are paid anonymous, from the equivalent of a few cents to the equivalent of a few tens of euros to propagate “information”. According to the report, 2 million Chinese citizens would be paid full-time to relay Beijing’s propaganda and 20 million would act part-time, on demand, to flood social networks and create the illusion of spontaneous movements. This task takes the form of a multitude of sites, such as those of the Qiqi and Happytify networks, and it is also outsourced to Malaysia via hundreds of “content farms”.

The Larry Romanoff affair, the false nose of disinformation on Covid

The report tells how in March 2020, the Chinese authorities mounted a disinformation operation to accuse the United States of being the origin of the pandemic. Chinese officials based their public accusations on the work of so-called renowned scientist Larry Romanoff. The authors of the report have found his trace. Romanoff really exists, he is a Canadian who made import export to Calgary 20 years ago before disappearing and then creating a conspiracy site in Shanghai 10 years later. Then to disappear again before resurfacing for a few weeks in early 2020 only to write articles on an alleged American origin of the virus.

Sweden, number one target in Europe

In its immediate vicinity, China is targeting Taiwan first, through multiple disinformation operations. But it also has two more distant targets: Canada, and Sweden, its priority target in Europe. China is interested in it for several reasons: its geographical position (gateway to the Arctic and Europe), its cutting-edge technological sectors, its image as a model country. It is therefore a Trojan horse. But Beijing has changed its strategy, recently moving from seduction to aggression. In particular, by setting up a whole disinformation operation on an alleged affair of Chinese tourists allegedly assaulted by the Swedish police. It is about destabilizing the model while trying to convince the Chinese public of the violence of the European system.

Relays of influence in France

France is not a priority target, if we are to believe this report. With the exception of New Caledonia, where Chinese networks support independence movements, with the hope of attaching the territory to China’s zone of influence in the Pacific while capturing its nickel resources. On the metropolitan territory, the report points to the links of certain publishing houses, foundations or think tanks with Beijing: the publishing house La Route de la Soie and its review China France Dialogue (edited by an organization linked to the Chinese Communist Party), The Bridge Tank think tank (which organizes events funded by the Chinese Embassy), the Prospective and Innovation foundation chaired by Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the Iris think tank which, on certain specific events, gives pride of place to Beijing’s positions.

The strange Chinese constructions in Africa

The report notes that over the past 50 years, Chinese companies have built or renovated 186 government buildings in Africa, including Namibia, Angola, Ghana, Uganda. Included in the lot are 24 presidential or prime ministerial palaces. In addition, there is the creation of 14 sensitive government telecommunications networks and the IT equipment of 35 African governments. Everything built each time by companies linked to Chinese power. This situation raises questions since revelations in 2018 showed that the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, also built by the Chinese, had been riddled with microphones and computers equipped with spy systems.

An aggressive and ineffective octopus

The authors of the report, Paul Charon and Jean-Baptiste Jeangène Vilmer, stress that this all-out Chinese strategy is often ineffective or even counterproductive. The choice of China in recent years is that of aggressiveness, to be feared rather than to seduce. The consequence is a lasting degradation of its image abroad. But its priority objective is elsewhere: to control the situation inside the country.