East Asia

CHINESE DISCOURSE POWER: ASPIRATIONS, REALITY, AND AMBITIONS IN THE DIGITAL DOMAIN

Wed, Aug 24, 2022

Chinese discourse power: Ambitions and reality in the digital domain

The CCP has embarked on a concerted strategy to gain control over the global digital and information environment. Its goal: create an alternative global order with China at its heart.

by Kenton Thibaut

russia china lithuania mairupol

Fri, Jun 24, 2022

Russian War Report: Pro-Kremlin Russian outlet refers to Russian troops in Mariupol as ‘occupiers’ 

News outlet Moskovsky Komsomolets published an article that referred to Russian soldiers in Mariupol as "occupiers," but it was quickly deleted. Meanwhile, fires strike Russian oil and power plants, and Chinese media report on Russia-Lithuania dispute.

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

US President Joe Biden departs Japan on May 24, 2022. (Source: Reuters/Kyodo Pictures)

Thu, May 26, 2022

Chinese netizens accuse Biden of using gaffes as a “strategic advantage”

Chinese social media accounts disparaged the US president by claiming Biden intentionally weaponizes his verbal gaffes.

China Government
Map of the global south in which China uses discourse power.

Wed, Apr 20, 2022

China’s discourse power operations in the Global South

An overview of China’s discourse power activities in the Global South, including the regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. It outlines the processes through which China leverages its diplomatic, media, and political positions in these regions to gain influence, and assesses the impacts of these activities for democratic resilience worldwide.

by Kenton Thibaut

Servicemen of the military forces of South Ossetia attend an oath of allegiance ceremony in Tskhinvali, the capital of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, Georgia, July 5, 2015.

Fri, Mar 18, 2022

Russian War Report: Russia sends military contractors from Georgian breakaway region to Ukraine

Military contractors from South Ossetia, Belarus' hesitancy to send troops, VPN's, the dilemma US tech companies face over Russian citizens' access, and more.

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

Financing & Genocide: Development Finance and the Crisis in the Uyghur Region

Wed, Feb 16, 2022

Financing & genocide: Development finance and the crisis in the Uyghur Region

A joint report that reveals how the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) has significant investments in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where indigenous peoples have been subjected to what international legislators, legal scholars, and advocates have determined to be a genocide.

by Laura T. Murphy, Kendyl Salcito, Nyrola Elimä

Financing & Genocide: Development Finance and the Crisis in the Uyghur Region

Wed, Feb 16, 2022

DFRLab releases Financing & genocide: Development finance and the crisis in the Uyghur Region

The DFRLab releases a joint investigation revealing how the World Bank’s private lending arm has several investments in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

China Government
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi bump elbows during the signing ceremony of a 25-year cooperation agreement in Tehran, March 27, 2021.

Mon, Feb 14, 2022

A moment of truth for China’s vaccine diplomacy in Iran

Iranian officials echoed Chinese messaging while touting vaccines and criticizing the United States.

by Simin Kargar

China Coronavirus

Tue, Feb 1, 2022

Russian War Report: Will Moscow provide weapons and passports to breakaway Ukrainian regions?

The Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab is tracking the latest on Russia moving blood and food supplies to the front, narratives in Kremlin-tied media, and more.

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

A health worker gestures during a day of immunization against Covid-19 with the compound manufactured in China Sinopharm aimed at high school students at a high school in the west of the city, in Caracas, Venezuela, October 29, 2021.

Wed, Jan 26, 2022

Pro-China messaging amplified in Venezuela’s “hashtag of the day”

Hashtag trended on Venezuelan Twitter alongside messages praising China for donating its vaccine and attacking US for sanctions.

by Daniel Suárez Pérez, Kenton Thibaut

China Coronavirus
An Indian Army convoy moves along a highway leading to Ladakh, at Gagangeer in Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, June 18, 2020.

Thu, Jan 6, 2022

Social media and security dynamics in the ongoing India-China border dispute

False narratives underline dangers posed by disinformation as a means of stoking hostility between nuclear-armed neighbors.

by Ayushman Kaul

China Facebook

Sun, Feb 14, 2021

Weaponized: How rumors about COVID-19’s origins led to a narrative arms race

A joint research project from the Digital Forensic Research Lab and the Associate Press on information environments during the first six months of COVID-19.

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

China Coronavirus