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Epoch Times
7 days ago
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Beijing's Global Propaganda Efforts Are ‘Warfare Without Bullets,' Former Chinese Professor Says
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is waging an intensified propaganda campaign beyond its borders to repress the spiritual group Falun Gong, according to Li Yuanhua, a former Chinese history professor now living in Australia. The regime's tactics include utilizing the legal and political systems of democracies to suppress the group, as well as injecting its propaganda and disinformation through Western media outlets in the hopes of influencing public perception, he said. 'This is warfare without bullets, aimed at the mind of every person in the free world,' Li told The Epoch Times. He described the CCP's transnational repression waged through media attacks as an 'ideological infiltration campaign.' Li said that the CCP has been infiltrating Western media for years and has learned how to use overseas media professionals to its advantage. Besides paid ads and op-eds, the CCP collects personal data on journalists to look for 'pressure points' it can exploit—things like personal weaknesses or family ties, he said. Li expressed concern that Western media professionals are being asked to apply their skills to package information on a topic that is heavily controlled in China, and giving the regime power to also control the narrative overseas, especially when the views of Falun Gong practitioners are not treated equally in media reporting. In recent months, The New York Times has published more than 10 articles attacking Falun Gong and Falun Gong-founded dance company Shen Yun Performing Arts, which is based in New York. The articles omit information that would have undermined the articles' premises, a review by The Epoch Times found. Media companies in other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, have also published negative rhetoric targeting Shen Yun. 'If an entire newsroom is complicit in this kind of behavior, the media becomes weaponized and is turned into a tool for manipulating public opinion, which will ultimately do serious damage to public trust and the integrity of information,' Li said. Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a mind-body self improvement practice based on the tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, along with five gentle exercises. The CCP first considered Falun Gong a benefit to society, as many practitioners improved their mental and physical condition. But the CCP soon viewed the popularity of the group as a threat to its control and atheist values and it began a nationwide campaign to persecute Falun Gong practitioners in 1999, with a stated policy of 'defaming their reputations, bankrupting them financially, and destroying them physically.' Then-CCP leader Jiang Zemin mobilized the whole state apparatus, including state-run media at home as well as foreign media, in an attempt to 'eradicate' Falun Gong within three months. In January 2001, the CCP staged a self-immolation incident in Tiananmen Square under the direction of then-CCP leader Jiang Zemin and blamed it on Falun Gong practitioners; a finding reported by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada in 2004. The hoax, aired nationally by CCTV on Jan. 31, 2001, became a key part of an intensified propaganda campaign to vilify Falun Gong and incite hatred in the Chinese populace against it. Jiang gave two high-profile interviews—one in writing to France's Le Figaro in October 1999, and another in person to CBS in August 2000—where he made negative remarks about Falun Gong. This marked the first time a top CCP leader had made public statements on Falun Gong to major international media, expanding Beijing's propaganda efforts to a global audience. The CCP continued to expand its global propaganda campaign, pulling together its intelligence apparatus and diplomatic resources to infiltrate Western media and academic institutions. The CCP's state-run English-language media, China Daily, paid more than $1 million in printing and advertisement expenses to nine U.S. media outlets from May 1 to Oct. 3, 2023. In return, the media companies printed its 'China Watch' supplement, helping spread CCP's narratives. Last year, then-Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, sent letters to the heads of the nine U.S. media companies, urging them to stop accepting money from, and cut ties with China Daily. The letters were sent to The Seattle Times, the Houston Chronicle, The Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, Time, USA Today, the Financial Times, the Sun Sentinel, and the Chicago Tribune. China Daily has since been designated by the U.S. Department of State as a 'foreign mission' controlled by the CCP. In its 2022 report on Beijing's Global Media Influence, Freedom House, a U.S.-based nonpartisan organization, found that the CCP was 'using more sophisticated and coercive tactics to shape media narratives and suppress critical reporting.' The United States, United Kingdom, and Taiwan were among the countries that 'faced a very high degree of media influence efforts from Beijing' and 'displayed a very high level of resilience' according to the report. Australia was rated in the category of facing a 'high degree of media influence efforts from Beijing.' According to party insiders, in 2022, CCP leader Xi Jinping ordered an escalation of the suppression of Falun Gong groups overseas, deploying propaganda campaigns and legal warfare in a broader 'unrestricted warfare' strategy to target both Falun Gong and Shen Yun. CCP Focuses Attacks on Shen Yun For years, Shen Yun has been a thorn in the party's side, Li told The Epoch Times. This is because Shen Yun is getting people talking about the CCP's human rights abuses, and promoting religious freedom, he said. Shen Yun's tagline is 'China before communism.' He said the CCP has responded to this artistic expression by launching a coordinated smear campaign and legal challenges attacking Shen Yun. Shen Yun stated in August 2024 that Beijing had escalated its suppression efforts, citing a report by the Falun Dafa Information Center (FDIC) that the regime is instructing agents to feed 'malicious' and 'negative' content about people who practice Falun Gong to Western media and social media influencers. The report said the CCP's aim is to breed public hostility toward Falun Gong in the hopes of prompting action from U.S. law enforcement. Whistleblowers in China provided meeting notes from June, in which provincial-level Ministry of Public Security officials—the CCP's top secret police—directed all provinces to 'fully support' two YouTubers producing anti-Falun Gong and anti-Shen Yun videos. The FDIC report states that in early August 2024, one of the YouTubers explicitly listed 'media like the New York Times' as one of three target 'battlefields' for discrediting Falun Gong and Shen Yun. Li urged democratic nations to stay vigilant or risk having their speech and core values manipulated by foreign totalitarian powers. In February, the State Department denounced the CCP's 'acts of intimidation' directed at Falun Gong and Shen Yun. In June, G7 leaders concluded their two-day summit in Canada. In one of their statements, leaders vowed to cooperate to counter the CCP's transnational repression, which it said 'often impacts dissidents, journalists, human rights defenders, religious minorities, and those identified as part of diaspora communities.' Li stressed that once the media becomes a tool of political infiltration, the victims aren't just a specific faith group—the free speech and values of the democratic world are at stake. 'Today they're targeting Shen Yun,' he warned, 'Tomorrow it could be a political party or public figure they don't like.'
South China Morning Post
24-06-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
China will bring out the big guns for its military parade. What's it all about?
China is preparing to show off its military might with a huge parade in Beijing on September 3 marking the 80th anniversary of the victory over Japan in World War II. Advertisement As well as thousands of goose-stepping soldiers, the People's Liberation Army will bring out the big guns with its latest missile systems, weaponry and aircraft on display for the first time since the last military parade six years ago. Why hold a parade? The PLA has not fought a war since the 1990s and its military parades since then have served as a demonstration of the PLA's prowess and determination. They have become more frequent since Xi Jinping took power in 2012. Amid an ambitious modernisation drive – with the goal of creating a 'world class' military by 2049 – there have been large-scale parades in Beijing in 2015 and 2019, and in Inner Mongolia in 2017. Two major naval parades have also been held, in the South China Sea in 2018 and in the Yellow Sea in 2019. Fewer parades took place when Xi's predecessors Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao were in office. One was staged in 1999 when Jiang was in power and another in 2009 when Hu was president, both in Tiananmen Square. Naval parades were also held in the Yellow Sea to mark PLA Navy anniversaries in 1995 and 2009. Xi Jinping (centre) with former presidents Hu Jintao (left) and Jiang Zemin at the 2019 parade. Photo: AP In recent years, these parades have reflected a fundamental shift in China's defence strategy and foreign policy – from 'keeping a low profile and biding time' to 'proactively striving for accomplishments' – and they come as geopolitical rivalry has intensified, especially with the United States.
Economic Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Can India match China's STEM success by rethinking its higher education model?
On a different ivy league: Students of Nanjing University My daughter, who is completing high school, has expressed interest in continuing her education in the biotech space at college level and beyond. While researching the top institutions globally in this space, I was surprised to see a plethora of Chinese universities dominating the rankings. As I looked through other STEM areas, the same pattern emerged - if not accentuated - with much larger presence of Chinese universities, especially in areas of computer science and AI.I recollected a conversation with a professor-friend of mine in the US, who had been tracking Chinese research output. He had told me that over the past 20 years, output from Chinese universities in STEM has been continuously exceeding that from the US. For a country that still gets lampooned in international media for 'cheap copy' or 'substandard product', increasingly innovative capabilities in social media like TikTok, or in AI like DeepSeek and Manus, are stunning the world. China's dominance in solar cell manufacturing and EVs is already well known. So, how did China make it happen? Project 985, conceptualised in 1998 by the Jiang Zemin administration, selected 39 universities for increased investments to make them 'world-class'. The results are now showing. Focus on the number of universities has since gone far beyond the original 39. Ecosystems are forming around chosen universities similar to ones created in areas like Boston and Bay Area in the responded to the looming challenge in its 2016 budget by identifying 20 universities across private and public sectors in which GoI was willing to invest significant sums to make them 'world-class'. After the initial hullabaloo over the selected private universities, not much discussion about investments or their impact has been made in the public having many interesting ideas, India's next important effort around education through National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has been stuck in 'debates' over matters like 'imposition of Hindi' and 'central interference'. Here, too, the results show. While there was much joy in Kolkata for pipping Bengaluru as India's top research hub in the prestigious Nature Index 2024, the former was ranked 84th and the latter 85th among 200 science cities across the world. Beijing topped the list, followed by Shanghai, New York, Boston and Nanjing. Five Chinese cities were in the index's top 10 (compared to four American cities). Can a democratic, diverse India respond in the same way to China's top-down, centralised approach to higher education excellence? Probably not. To achieve success, India should consider two things: Instead of trying to convert individual universities as islands of academic and research excellence, India should look to identify cities that could become hubs of subjects like AI, quantum computing, biotech and climate technology. Each of these areas could be looked at from all angles including - but not limited to - research and innovation, while expanding to consider its impact from areas like IP and legal issues, looking at commercialising these innovations, or even studying its impact across societies. Indian cities are blessed with good academic institutions that can be leveraged to create talent across key futuristic areas by creating excellence in one area to start with. They can then become hubs of talent providing 360° perspectives across innovation, commercialisation and consulting, which a single-minded vision around research in an undemocratic monolithic society like China's cannot. Given the Trump administration's unprecedented assault on its higher education system - the threat to shut down Harvard's foreign enrolment being the latest, even as it was blocked for the time being by a federal judge on Friday - India is the only large democratic country with both the ability and the willingness of its population to absorb institutions and academics seeking a safe haven outside the US. While NEP does talk about introducing foreign education institutions within India, we have so far failed to bring in anyone worthwhile. It would be advisable to relook at our policies and redouble efforts both from central and state levels to bring immediate improvement to India's higher education ecosystem. While we should continue to focus on building homegrown institutions, there's no doubt that competition from foreign universities, along with access to globally recognised academics, will provide immense opportunities to, and traction for, India's this would, of course, require our politicians and administrators to be a little more thick-skinned and willing to accept criticism and research output that could even be contrary to their ideological posturings. But is it not what a healthy democracy is all about? If that allows us to 'reclaim' our 'Nalandas' and become a real 'Vishwaguru', pinpricks some politicians could feel would be a small cost to primary and secondary education improvements are necessary to solve today's problem, higher education can be the doorway for India to claim dominance in this century. If we don't act now, it'll be difficult to catch up to the yawning gap between us and China, and the US. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. What pizzas are Indians eating? The clue lies with India's largest QSR. Why high gold prices are making both banks and their borrowers smile How does IndusInd's 'fraud' tag affect its future? RBI has cut repo rates twice in 3 months. But that isn't enough to boost the economy! As India steps up commercial shipbuilding, it needs a supply chain boost Stock Radar: RITES stock breaks out from Ascending Triangle pattern; time to buy? Brokerage Radar: Morgan Stanley downgrades IndusInd Bank; BNP Paribas views DOMS Industries as top consumer sector pick Corrections come and go; focus on business and its growth: 6 large-caps from different sectors with upside potential of up to 52% Weekly Top Picks: These stocks scored 10 on 10 on Stock Reports Plus
Epoch Times
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
April 25, 1999: Why It Matters to the West
Commentary Twenty-six years ago, on April 25, 1999, more than 10,000 peaceful Falun Gong practitioners gathered outside the State Council's appeals office at the Zhongnanhai compound in Beijing to appeal for their right to practice Falun Gong in China. Not since students assembled in Tiananmen Square in June 1989 had so many Chinese citizens gathered in public to appeal to the authorities. Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice in the Buddhist tradition based on the universal principles of truthfulness, compassion, forbearance (zhen, shan, ren, in Chinese). It was brought to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in May 1992 and quickly became the most popular qigong in China. By 1998, the State Sports Commission found that more than 70 million people were practicing Falun Gong. Zhongnanhai Zhongnanhai is a compound in Beijing, a former imperial garden west of the Forbidden City, that houses the offices of the State Council and the offices and residences of the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The State Council oversees provincial governments throughout China and has an appeals office to receive petitions from citizens who have been treated unjustly. What Happened on April 25, 1999? The events of April 25, 1999, had a slow buildup. Despite the improved health and morality Chinese people found in Falun Gong, CCP hardliners, such as then-CCP leader Jiang Zemin, saw it as a resurgence of traditional culture that must be crushed by a Cultural Revolution-like campaign. By 1996, the regime's public security authorities started disrupting Falun Gong meditation gatherings, and state media ran articles attacking the practice. Through 1997 and 1998, there were incidents of Falun Gong practitioners being unjustly treated across China. In early April 1999, Falun Gong practitioners in Tianjin went to a state-run news agency to request corrections to inaccuracies in its article on Falun Gong. However, the Tianjin Public Security Bureau used anti-riot police to beat and arrest more than 40 people. Local police told the practitioners to go to Beijing to resolve the issue. When other practitioners heard about this, many went to the State Council's appeals office on April 25 that year, hoping to ensure a peaceful and safe environment for practicing Falun Gong. The office is located on Fuyou Street, on the west side of Zhongnanhai. However, local public security forces Related Stories 4/19/2025 3/15/2025 Soon, there were more than 10,000 people—some standing quietly, others sitting. They were careful not to obstruct activities on the streets or footpaths, did not chant slogans or raise their voices, and were very orderly. In the context of the communist regime's historical response to dissent and the potential consequences, this mass gathering was brave and an embodiment of kindness and forbearance. Zhu Rongji, then the Chinese premier, came out with several staff members to speak with the practitioners and called three of them to come inside to meet the deputy secretary of the appeals office. By nightfall, the issues appeared to have been resolved, and the practitioners all went home. CCP Response Although the Chinese petition and appeals system is intended to offer hope to people who have been treated unjustly, as with all regulations in China, the CCP stands above the law. On July 20, 1999, at Jiang's direction, the CCP launched a major arrest of Falun Gong practitioners and a brutal persecution to eradicate the practice. The persecution continues today, including the killing of practitioners to harvest their organs for the state-run organ transplant industry in military and civilian hospitals. CCP officials often claim that the appeal at Zhongnanhai was an organized 'siege' that posed a threat to the nation's leaders. Sadly, some Western governments and media still refer to this false narrative as a reason that Falun Gong was banned. Why Is 'April 25' Important? The Chinese communist regime does not accept the rule of law, fundamental human rights, and its obligations under international trade or treaties, and is a threat to the national security and freedoms enjoyed by all Western nations. That's not a political issue. It is an issue of humanity—the challenge of preserving our humanity, the goodness and kindness inherent in human beings. Shi Caidong, a doctoral candidate at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was one of three Falun Gong practitioners invited inside the Zhongnanhai compound by Premier Zhu. Later, after the persecution began, Shi witnessed his academic colleagues being sent to forced labor camps and even tortured to death. He was constantly harassed and arrested, and eventually fled to the United States as a visiting university scholar. In 2010, when asked about his experiences in an interview with 'April 25' was the beginning of a peaceful resistance movement that is changing China from within. Through embodying the principles of Falun Gong, practitioners are helping hundreds of millions of Chinese people connect with their roots and see a future without communism. It was also the beginning of the end for the CCP, as the regime's irrational and frenzied attacks on Falun Gong became more extreme, revealing its evil and inhumane nature to the world. The West now has a clear choice of what it will support and the future it chooses for its people. Righteousness and justice will ultimately prevail. Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
