BEIJING: The United States is the true “empire of lies”, the Chinese foreign ministry said, lashing out at a US State Department report that accused Beijing of ploughing billions of dollars annually into information manipulation efforts.
China is manipulating global media through censorship, data harvesting and covert purchases of foreign news outlets, sponsoring online influencers and securing distribution agreements that promote unlabeled Chinese government content, the US State Department said in the report.
Despite the unprecedented resources devoted to the campaign, Beijing had hit “major setbacks” when targeting democratic countries, due to local media and civil society push-back, according to the report, which was produced under a congressional mandate to detail state information manipulation.
The report has disregarded facts, and is itself false information, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.
The agencies of the US State Department that produced the report “were the source of false information and the command post of ‘cognitive warfare’,” the Chinese ministry said. “Facts have repeatedly proven that the United States is the true ’empire of lies’,” it added.
The US report comes amid controversy over China’s attempts in recent years to increase the global footprint of its government-controlled media. Beijing is seeking to combat the negative images of China it feels are propagated by global media.
The United States said China is manipulating global media through censorship, data harvesting and covert purchases of foreign news outlets, warning the trend could lead to a “sharp contraction” of global freedom of expression.
Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington, said the report was about heightening ideological confrontation and “smearing China’s domestic and foreign policies.”
“Written with a Cold-War mentality, the report is just another tool to keep China down and buttress American hegemony. China is strongly against such moves,” Liu said.
Citing public reports and “newly acquired government information,” the State Department’s Global Engagement Center said Beijing had created its own information ecosystem by co-opting foreign political elites and journalists.
It has also invested in satellite networks and digital television services in developing regions that prioritize Chinese state-backed media content.
Chinese data harvesting overseas “has enabled Beijing to fine-tune global censorship by targeting specific individuals and organizations,” it said. “Unchecked, Beijing’s efforts could result in … a sharp contraction of global freedom of expression,” the report said.
Despite unprecedented resources devoted to the campaign, Beijing had encountered “major setbacks” when targeting democratic countries, due to local media and civil society push-back, according to the report, which was produced under a congressional mandate to detail state information manipulation.
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