The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is advancing its influence operations in foreign countries, including the United States, with increasing sophistication and frequency, according to a new report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC).
Under Chinese President Xi Jinping, the CCP’s influence mechanisms, such as the United Front Work Department (UFWD), have become more ambitious. These operations target various sectors, including media, business elites, academic institutions, and political figures, to co-opt and advance China’s interests. The report details how the CCP seeks to manipulate individuals outside the party, even those seen as temporary allies or “lesser enemies,” to serve its strategic goals.
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The USCC report highlights the critical role of influence operations in the CCP’s strategy for regime survival and national interest advancement. “For CCP leaders, influencing how the outside world views and engages with China is a matter of regime survival and a means of advancing national interests,” the report states. It notes that achieving objectives like maintaining CCP rule, avoiding criticism of its policies, asserting control over the Chinese diaspora, and unifying Taiwan with the Mainland partially depends on foreign leaders and public behavior. Under Xi’s leadership, these influence activities have become more prevalent, institutionalized, technologically sophisticated, and aggressive.
The report warns that the CCP increasingly uses coercion alongside persuasion in its overseas influence efforts, often challenging other countries’ sovereignty and threatening the rights of their citizens. Specific tactics include securing positive media coverage abroad, harassing critics, influencing electoral processes, courting elected officials, leveraging business relationships to push pro-China policies, and manipulating academic discourse to shape public understanding of the CCP.
The Missouri-based nonprofit United States Heartland China Association, which aims to build bridges between China and Midwestern U.S. officials and businesspeople, has extensive ties to UFWD-affiliated groups and individuals. The organization’s board includes several members connected to UFWD-linked entities, as well as former American governors and mayors.
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UFWD also operates “overseas Chinese service centers” in at least seven U.S. cities, promoting Chinese propaganda and hosting performances by artists linked to China’s military and propaganda entities. In April 2023, the Justice Department arrested two individuals for allegedly running a secret police station in Manhattan associated with China’s Ministry of Public Security.
To address these growing influence operations, the USCC report recommends several actions for U.S. policymakers. These include amending the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase scrutiny of funding from China to American universities, expanding the review authority of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States under the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, and adjusting the Lobbying Disclosure Act to require trade groups to disclose donations or payments from Chinese members or their U.S.-based affiliates.
These recommendations aim to counteract the pervasive influence operations conducted by the CCP and protect U.S. sovereignty and the rights of its citizens.
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