Latest news with #PeaceMarch
Euronews
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Orbán says Pride marched in the Budapest 'on the orders of Brussels'
The international press estimates the number of participants in Saturday's event, the Budapest Pride march - which was, in fact, the outlawed Budapest Pride - at between 100- and 200,000. One thing is for sure: the organisers broke the previous record of 35,000 by a considerable margin. On Sunday, it was finally became clear how Viktor Orbán assessed the Saturday parade, as the Prime Minister. He had told the Pride organisers in February that they "should not bother" with their organisational efforts, as the government would not allow the event to take place. Orders from Brussels? The Prime Minister sent a message to the "Warriors' Club", an organisation close to his party Fidesz - which also reached the independent news website Index - in which he wrote that "Brussels has issued an order that there must be a Pride in Budapest. Their puppet politicians have carried out the order. This is proof of what life would be like if our country were not run by a national government defending our sovereignty. Orders from Brussels, puppet politicians in Budapest in hats, TISZA, [social democrat] DK and Karácsony [Mayor of Budapest] voters in the streets". Orbán called the event itself "disgusting and shameful", pointing out that events such as drag performances, men in high heels or brochures on hormone therapy "do not fit into Hungarian culture". He added that "the 3.7 million voters of the 2022 gender vote" could "not be matched by the number of any demonstration". Orbán - the king of Pride? His main rival Péter Magyar did not miss the opportunity to react. The leader of the TISZA party said that "Viktor Orbán became the king of Pride in Europe yesterday, because no one else has ever managed to mobilise such a large crowd for a demonstration against himself by inciting hatred". The opposition politician took full advantage and wrote in his post that "Orbán can no longer govern, public services are falling apart. The Hungarian railways stop running every weekend, the health care system is dying, people are living worse and worse and everyone is cutting their pennies." Recent polls have shown his party leading Fidesz by up to ten points. Parliamentary elections are expected to be held in April next year. A clever trap? The government officially tried to play down the massive event - and even spin it as a "clever trap" by Viktor Orbán, using it to reinforce his narrative that Pride marchers were a manipulated minority, but political scientist Gábor Török disagreed. According to him, "the clumsy ban and the police's legal manoeuvring" also indicated that events have taken a wrong turn for the government: "Fidesz certainly did not miss the spectacle of today, the crowds, the distant images that almost resemble the Peace March - and of course the prominent role of Our Homeland," he said in his Facebok post. By 20:00 on Saturday, police had arrested 36 people, one woman for criminal mischief and one man for possession of drugs. Two people were taken ill and a 15-year-old boy was injured when he fell from the railing he was climbing. The police called an ambulance as a safety measure, reported.
Japan Forward
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Japan Forward
How Are Chinese Persuasive Narratives Shaping Japanese Public Opinion?
Recent opinion polls have shown that close to 90% of the Japanese public have a negative opinion of China. Among the reasons for the unfavorable attitude towards Japan's giant neighbor are the continuing incursions by Chinese vessels into waters around the Senkaku Islands, the arrests of Japanese living in China, attacks on Japanese schoolchildren in Chinese cities, and the anti-Japan sentiment rampant on Chinese social media. Japan would hardly seem fertile ground for Chinese influence operations. But that is definitely not so, according to a new study. A team led by Professor Tetsuro Kobayashi of Waseda University's School of Political Science and Economics carried out the research. Using two online survey experiments, he and his team examined how Japanese citizens respond to narratives propagated by authoritarian regimes (namely China and Russia) compared to those dominant in democratic societies. They exposed survey participants to both types of narratives and then measured shifts in opinion. The results were startling and definitely concerning. A bouquet of flowers was offered near the school bus stop where a Chinese assailant tried to stab a Japanese mother and her son in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. June 30, 2024 (©Kyodo) According to Kobayashi, "The results showed that both illiberal and mainstream narratives produced persuasive effects in the intended direction. However, the illiberal narratives tended to have a greater impact than mainstream narratives." A similar study was previously conducted in Germany. It had shown that individuals with low political knowledge and strong authoritarian tendencies were more vulnerable to illiberal narratives and conspiracy theories. However, the responses of Japanese participants in Kobayashi's study revealed them to be broadly susceptible to illiberal narratives regardless of their prior political knowledge and ideological profile. That led Kobayashi to conclude, "This suggests that it is not only specific segments of the Japanese population that are influenced by illiberal narratives. Rather, it suggests that Japanese individuals are broadly susceptible." An article in the online journal "Democratization" sums up the group's research. Published on March 12, it is titled "Autocracies Win the Minds of the Democratic Public: How Japanese citizens are persuaded by illiberal narratives propagated by authoritarian regimes." It defines illiberal narratives as "story-based messages promoted by authoritarian states to influence public opinion in their favor." Peace March at Tokyo Ginza street by people from Myanmar, Cambodia, Iran, Ukraine, Belarus, Tibet, Uyghur, Southern Mongolia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, and Japan. (Facebook/ MI & FF) The research involved two online experiments with more than 2,500 Japanese participants in each. Participants were exposed to Chinese and Russian narratives as well as mainstream narratives concerning 12 topics. In China's case, these included the Uyghur, Tibet, and Taiwan issues. Japan's handling of the release of wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant was also included. China also expended considerable effort to convince the Japanese public that its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic was more effective than approaches in Japan and other democratic societies. The contrasting narratives canceled each other out to a certain degree. However, the illiberal narratives ended up having a stronger impact, especially when presented last. That was true even when participants knew that the narrative originated in China or Russia ー attribution had minimal impact. In other words, the illiberal narratives effectively shaped public opinion, even among skeptics or individuals with quite different political beliefs. The study does not get into the question of why Japanese should be so vulnerable to illiberal narratives. However, it mentions the proliferation of social media. Members of a Kansai delegation to China, including Masayoshi Matsumoto, Chairman of the Kansai Economic Federation (center) in November 2024 in Beijing. (©Sankei by Kohei Inoue) SNS has created new avenues for authoritarian states to influence democratic societies, sway public opinion in their favor, and even destabilize target societies. These narratives are created in such a way as to appeal to and manipulate cultural emotions and values. Meanwhile, they undermine the liberal democratic order. Persuasive narratives are specifically crafted to appeal to emotions, making it more difficult to construct counterarguments. They are powerful, and their effects are often enduring. In China's case, such narratives are only one weapon in its influence operations and full-spectrum cognitive warfare on Western society. One specific "hard" propaganda case mentioned in the report was direct Chinese involvement in Japanese politics during the 2024 lower house election. "Wolf warrior" Xue Jian, the Chinese Consul General in Osaka, in effect endorsed the Reiwa Shinsengumi Party candidate. Xue Jian, China's Consul General in Osaka. The report notes that this was only one instance of China's public diplomacy extending its influence into Japan's domestic politics. One worrying conclusion reached in the study concerns the cultural proximity of East Asian democracies to China and Russia. According to the study, this may make them more receptive than other democracies to illiberal Chinese and Russian narratives that challenge the liberal international order. It adds, "This calls into question the assumed alignment of East Asian democracies with the US-led liberal democratic order." The authors of the report do not explain how they came to this provocative conclusion. I would certainly like to see comparative research to either confirm or challenge it. After all, some segments of the citizenry of the United States and Europe have completely bought into Russian narratives. If the conclusion is true, what is it about the cultural values and thought processes of East Asians that makes them different? In any event, China, Russia, and other authoritarian regimes are clearly determined to exploit divisions in democratic societies. Trade wars present them with an environment that makes their task all the easier. The question becomes how to counteract illiberal narratives and other forms of subversion designed to exploit domestic dissatisfaction in democracies. Author: John Carroll
