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Pretty much any kind of rational or truthful reporting on the CCP is going to look like an attack on the CCP. And their overreactions and undisguised attempts

Pretty much any kind of rational or truthful reporting on the CCP is going to look like an attack on the CCP. And their overreactions and undisguised attempts to shut down all criticisms just make it worse, in an ever-deepening spiral where the response to the story IS the story. Unfortunately, democratic governments haven’t figured out how to combat these soft attacks from the CCP, because it’s very hard to form a national defence against subversive outside influence (good) without trampling on the freedom of expression of our own citizens (bad). There is also still much to be gained from engaging with Chinese citizens, who represent both a huge market and a huge pool of under-utilised talent. It is the biggest question of our time: how to maintain our open and free societies, maintain productive engagement with Chinese citizens, and simultaneously defend effectively from attacks by the CCP across all attack vectors both cold (soft power, social media influence, ransomware, IP theft, biological warfare, supply chain attacks, university think tanks, deficit infrastructure investment abroad, etc.) and hot?

jollybean 5y ago
"democratic governments haven’t figured out how to combat these soft attacks from the CCP, because it’s very hard to form a national defence against subversive outside influence (good) without trampling on the freedom of expression of our own citizens (bad)." I don't think that is even the beginning of the problem. The West doesn't 'react' because they are systematically incapable. Nobody is 'in charge' in the West, there are thousands of politicians, heads of states and provinces, heads of security, CEOs. The government is very tightly bound by laws. Politicians are temporary and populist. So how would the UK react to 'this thing'? Which agency? And who in that agency? Will they draft laws? What exactly would it entail? Or would it be a matter of foreign policy aka tit-for-tat? That gets complicated. There needs to be a coordinated and cohesive strategy vis-a-vis China within the nation so that lowly disempowered students who are bullied, the little company who has IP stolen etc. can all participate in some kind of meaningful process. Or probably not 'process' but at least some kind of coordinated activity.
DiogenesKynikos 5y ago
Any rational or truthful reporting will, of course, be highly critical of the government. But most reporting on China in the US and Europe is very far from this ideal, and swings over into demonization and absurd caricature. Nearly every story on China is intensely negative - even reporting on things that are mostly positive, such as the reduction of extreme poverty or the successful epidemic control measures. By all means, report on political repression in Xinjiang, but don't try to manipulate people by throwing around absurd accusations of "genocide." This is causing a backlash in China, and among people who know about China to any extent. There's very little attempt to explain to Western audiences, in broad outlines, what Chinese society is like, what the major government policies are, or what the background of various conflicts is. That's what I miss most in reporting in the US and Europe. It comes across as a crude attempt to demonize a country, and to manipulate public opinion into supporting an aggressive posture towards a geopolitical rival.

jollybean 5y ago

"democratic governments haven’t figured out how to combat these soft attacks from the CCP, because it’s very hard to form a national defence against subversive outside influence (good) without trampling on the freedom of expression of our own citizens (bad)." I don't think that is even the beginning of the problem. The West doesn't 'react' because they are systematically incapable. Nobody is 'in charge' in the West, there are thousands of politicians, heads of states and provinces, heads of security, CEOs. The government is very tightly bound by laws. Politicians are temporary and populist. So how would the UK react to 'this thing'? Which agency? And who in that agency? Will they draft laws? What exactly would it entail? Or would it be a matter of foreign policy aka tit-for-tat? That gets complicated. There needs to be a coordinated and cohesive strategy vis-a-vis China within the nation so that lowly disempowered students who are bullied, the little company who has IP stolen etc. can all participate in some kind of meaningful process. Or probably not 'process' but at least some kind of coordinated activity.

DiogenesKynikos 5y ago

Any rational or truthful reporting will, of course, be highly critical of the government. But most reporting on China in the US and Europe is very far from this ideal, and swings over into demonization and absurd caricature. Nearly every story on China is intensely negative - even reporting on things that are mostly positive, such as the reduction of extreme poverty or the successful epidemic control measures. By all means, report on political repression in Xinjiang, but don't try to manipulate people by throwing around absurd accusations of "genocide." This is causing a backlash in China, and among people who know about China to any extent. There's very little attempt to explain to Western audiences, in broad outlines, what Chinese society is like, what the major government policies are, or what the background of various conflicts is. That's what I miss most in reporting in the US and Europe. It comes across as a crude attempt to demonize a country, and to manipulate public opinion into supporting an aggressive posture towards a geopolitical rival.