#184 China Sows Chaos, Division to Weaken Its Adversaries | Cleo Paskal

11/14/22 • 82 min

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China uses "entropic warfare" to weaken its adversaries and put it in a relatively stronger position on the world stage by amplifying division and sowing chaos. In this episode of China Unscripted, we talk about China's relationship to TikTok, China's influence in the Pacific, particularly the Marshall Islands and the Solomon Islands, and the danger of Elon Musk turning Twitter into a platform like WeChat. Joining us in this podcast is Cleo Paskal, a senior fellow at The Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

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#183 China’s Most Influential Spy Agency Hides in Plain Sight | Alex Joske

The 12th Bureau of China's spy agency, the Ministry of State Security (MSS), is not your typical clandestine spy operation. Officers of MSS's 12 bureau operate in the public eye. Rather than stealing state secrets, they seek to influence public opinion on China, which is why it's made up of a coterie of of academics, artists and business people. In this episode of China Unscripted, we talk about how China has been using the 12th bureau to shape the international conversation on China, examples of public figures it has co-opted, and some of the tactics it uses to co-opt them. Joining us in this episode is Alex Joske, the author of "Spies and Lies: How China's Greatest Covert Operations Fooled the World".

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#185 Protests in China Are Everywhere | Kevin Slaten

Dissent in China is more widespread than most people know. That’s because Chinese state media doesn’t report on it, and China’s censorship apparatus either blocks or erases evidence of it. The NGO Freedom House has created a China Dissent Monitor to track various forms of protest in China. In this episode of China Unscripted, we talk about the perception that protests in China are rare, what kind of protests are the most common, and the forms of dissent the China Dissent Monitor tracks. Joining us in this episode is Kevin Slaten, the research lead for China Dissent Monitor.

Check out the China Dissent Monitor at https://freedomhouse.org/report/china-dissent-monitor