Financial Times: Inside China’s Secret “Magic Weapon” for Worldwide Influence

The United States once charmed the world with innovations and a confident culture – but stagnation, insecurity and a lack of civility have weakened what Harvard’s Joseph Nye identified in the 1980s as soft power. China’s Xi Jinping, in consolidating his own power, sees value in presenting a confident and caring face to the world. The headquarters for China’s soft-power strategy is in Beijing and the offices of the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party. “Winning ‘hearts and minds’ at home and abroad through United Front work is crucial to realising the ‘great rejuvenation of the Chinese people’, Mr Xi has said,” reports a team for Financial Times. An “investigation into United Front operations in several countries shows a movement directed from the pinnacle of Chinese power to charm, co-opt or attack well-defined groups and individuals. Its broad aims are to win support for China’s political agenda, accumulate influence overseas and gather key information.” The organization has nine bureaus that focus on risks, especially foreign influences, over China’s non-communists, religious and minority groups, special regions like Hong Kong or Tibet, inequality, intellectuals and other influential people. A possible advantage for China: About one out of five people in the world are Chinese. One target for outreach is the 60 million Chinese who live outside the country. – YaleGlobal