US accuses China of disinformation

The US State Department’s accusation of China expanding its disinformation efforts has been met with a counterclaim from Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CNN reported, adding that the Chinese ministry said the State Department’s report itself constitutes disinformation.

The exchange occurred following the release of a report by the US State Department’s Global Engagement Centre, accusing the Chinese government of intensifying its efforts to control information and propagate propaganda and disinformation that advances “digital authoritarianism” within China and globally.

The report alleged that China allocates billions of dollars annually to manipulate foreign information and highlighted Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s significant expansion of initiatives to influence the global information landscape, according to CNN.

Further, the report emphasised US concerns regarding China as a primary military competitor and a key rival in the battle of ideas and global disinformation.

In response, China issued a counterstatement, asserting that the US State Department’s relevant centre, which authored the report, engages in propaganda and infiltration under the guise of “global engagement.” Beijing labelled it as a source of disinformation and the central command for “perception warfare.”

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited past examples such as the wars in Iraq and Syria and US reports alleging human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region to argue that the US is, fundamentally, “an empire of lies,” CNN reported.

It claimed that the US attempts to label other countries as purveyors of disinformation are seen through by an increasing number of people worldwide, who perceive the US’s efforts as an attempt to maintain its supremacy by disseminating falsehoods and smearing others.

“No matter how the US tries to pin the label of ‘disinformation’ on other countries, more and more people in the world have already seen through the US’s ugly attempt to perpetuate its supremacy by weaving lies into ‘emperor’s new clothes’ and smearing others,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, CNN reported.