Category: Dictatorships

China deploying ‘Orwellian technologies’ in disinformation ops

     

China is employing programs of direct propaganda and disinformation, similar to Russian disinformation efforts, according to a new analysis from the RAND Corporation. Beijing’s Communist authorities are likely to “step… Read more »

North Korea: civil society groups confront abysmal rights climate

     

The South Korean government should press the United States to discuss the appalling human rights situation in North Korea when US President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim… Read more »

Exporting Beijing’s surveillance state: sharp power in action

     

If China gains dominance over digital technology, it would be dangerous for freedom world-wide, says Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (2007-09) and head of policy planning in… Read more »

Silent Invasion: China’s sharp power undermining democracy

     

The mayor of an Australian city has admitted that, at the request of a Chinese official, its local council got rid of a Taiwanese flag that some school students painted… Read more »

A ‘new global battle’ of ideas? Chinese ‘connectivity politics’ as sharp power

     

Under President Xi Jinping, China has established a distinct and global form of connectivity politics, say analysts Paul Kohlenberg and Nadine Godehardt: This includes investment in infrastructure and international lending,… Read more »

Autocracy with Chinese characteristics?

     

Most Western observers have long believed that democracy and capitalism go hand in hand, that economic liberalization both requires and propels political liberalization, notes Yuen Yuen Ang, Associate Professor of… Read more »

China ‘regressing on reform’: Beijing’s sharp power underscores need to promote liberalization

     

India and China are jostling for influence in Iran and Central Asia, Nikkei reports, as New Delhi’s 7,000km transport corridor cuts across Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative. Prime Minister Narendra… Read more »

More Continuity than Change: Cuba’s ‘cosmetic’, ‘illegitimate’ dynastic succession

     

Miguel Diaz-Canel succeeded Raul Castro as Cuba’s president on Thursday, saying that there will be “no space for those who aspire for a restoration of capitalism, the LA Times reports… Read more »