Informational Statecraft and Diaspora Mobilization

• In Event: (Mis)Information in Great Power Competition and Democratic Governance

Abstract

Authoritarian regimes such as Russia and China are weaponizing the flow of information to alter public discourse and interfere in democratic political processes – what I call “informational statecraft”. Building on its considerable experience with domestic propaganda and information control, China is increasingly applying its authoritarian influence efforts in foreign countries. This includes renewed targeting of diaspora communities. Despite these communities’ heterogeneity, they are often perceived to be instruments of Beijing -- both by host country governments and by the Chinese government. I ask two key questions on the use of informational statecraft for diaspora mobilization. First, how does the Chinese government shape the flow of information to overseas communities? Second, what are the informational narratives propagated by Beijing to shape diasporic attitudes and behavior? To answer these questions, I draw on Chinese-language primary documents, text analysis, and case study evidence from two ‘most different’ cases, Australia and Malaysia, where diaspora mobilization has been politically salient. I characterize the economic and political tools used to manipulate diaspora populations’ information environments and show how politically-independent media outlets have been largely muscled-out, leaving Beijing-aligned information sources dominant. Additionally, text analysis of overseas Chinese-language platforms shows that a major goal of the Chinese Communist Party is to drive a wedge between diaspora communities and their host societies, pushing narratives of host-country ethnic discrimination and the shortcomings of host countries’ democratic political systems. The paper’s findings advance theoretical understandings of how authoritarian regimes can use informational tools – specifically in the context of diaspora populations – to simultaneously pursue foreign policy objectives and undermine internal democratic cohesion. This has implications for understanding a theoretically underspecified and rapidly evolving arena of great power competition between the United States and China.

Author

• Audrye Wong, University of Southern California