According to a US official report, China has built a network of global operations to shape media coverage and is seeking to dominate the Pakistani media.
In addition to cooperating closely with Russia on information issues, China has sought to enlist other important allies to rebut negative stories, according to a US State Department report released last week. One such ally is Pakistan
The media forum is used by Beijing and Islamabad to address what they deem to be “propaganda and malicious disinformation,” and the two countries have launched projects such as “CPEC rapid response information network” and most recently announced the launch of the “China-Pakistan Media Corridor” (CPMC).
According to a State Department report published in 2021, China attempted to negotiate substantial control over Pakistani media under the China-Pakistan Economic Council (CPEC) Media Corridor, including the establishment of a ‘nerve center’ jointly operated to monitor and shape the information environment in Pakistan.
In its draft concept paper, China asked the governments of Pakistan and China to set up a “nerve center” to monitor Pakistan’s information environment by making it easier to access information from think tanks and opinion leaders, as well as CPEC study centers and media organisations, as well as from PRC companies and even local CIIs.
According to the State Department’s report, the mechanisms would have allowed for the conversion of important reports into “Urdu products” to influence public opinion; the delivery of “PRC Embassy reports” directly to Pakistan’s “official press release system”; and the “monitoring and response” to public criticism of the PRC.
The State Department’s report claimed that China spends “billions of dollars” annually on “foreign information manipulation efforts” to spread “false or biased information” to promote “positive views of China” and the “CCP”.
In addition, China silences critical information that challenges its preferred narrative on Taiwan, human rights issues in China, South China Sea issues, domestic economic development, and global economic engagement, the report said.
More generally, China seeks to create and maintain a ‘global incentive system’ that directs foreign governments, elite groups, journalists, and civil society to accept the Chinese version of events and refrain from criticising China’s actions,’ the report said.