China’s infernal internal affairs hypocrisy

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China’s infernal internal affairs hypocrisy

The Chinese Communist Party insists, ad infinitum, that it never interferes in the internal affairs of other nations. Party officials insist that United States officials are thus acting outrageously when they criticize China on Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the plight of the Uyghur people.

As with so many of its claims, China’s contention here is an utter fiction.

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The reality is China has a rapacious appetite for interfering in the internal affairs of other nations. It does so by stealing hundreds of billions of dollars worth of other nations’ intellectual property each year. It does so when it sends warships to seize waters within the exclusive economic zones of other nations. It does so when it funds sympathetic foreign politicians and harasses those it views as problematic. It does so via the operation of secret police stations abroad, which deploy officers on intimidation missions. It does so by attempting to influence the outcome of foreign elections in its favor.

That last point bears new attention as the 2024 elections heat up in the U.S.

Meta reported this week that it had removed 4,789 Facebook accounts that were imitating Americans to post “in English about U.S. politics and U.S.-China relations.” Although this influence effort was simplistic, involving the unedited copying of posts from X/Twitter, it underlines China’s desire to affect the U.S. domestic political process. The fake accounts also supported efforts to influence Indian political discussions.

Yes, this interference campaign was relatively shoddy and unlikely to produce effects at scale. Still, it does indicate Beijing’s ambition to shape the outcomes of the U.S. democratic process in its favor. It also underlines the hypocrisy of Beijing’s self-righteous screeching about the injustice of meddling in its own internal affairs.

We should not lose sight of the fact that the duplicity starts at the top.

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Speaking in San Francisco earlier this month, Chinese president Xi Jinping insisted that China “never interferes in [America’s] internal affairs” and seeks only “mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.”

If nothing else, this report is further proof that only a fool would take Xi and his apparatchiks at their word.

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