It seems like the user who posted that article makes similar posts attacking China exclusively, day-in and day-out. 4000+ posts in the last year.

This particular post is a summary from a report from a large European think tank that’s obviously quite pro-NATO and worthy of skepticism from any anti-imperialist audience. The report itself seems to cast an extremely broad net as to what should count as nefarious Chinese meddling:

However, China’s efforts today are about shaping public opinion at scale. In a wider casting of the net, Chinese FIMI now relies on a busy ecosystem of other actors. For example, Beijing uses research partnerships, business associations, cultural exchanges, diaspora networks and social media influencers—who may or may not recognise their role in communicating CCP narratives. These locally based people and organisations (such as, for example, a Polish influencer talking to Polish audiences) provide familiar cultural and linguistic references and possess legitimacy that Chinese authorities lack. They help embed Beijing’s narratives into debates that, at first glance, may seem unrelated to China, such as the future of European industrial policy, global governance or the economy.

The underlying logic runs as follows: influence the wider information environment first, allow preferred narratives to become familiar and “common sense” in everyday online discourse and then let those narratives travel—with the help of local intermediaries—into mainstream media agendas and, eventually, national politics.

According to this report, a Chinese academic who’s just participating in a research program in Europe is part of China’s “FIMI” (their buzzword for disinformation/propaganda) efforts. But that, and the examples cited throughout here (except maybe AI which I’m willing to say is a different kind of phenomenon) is just a normal part of a country integrating itself in the globalized world.

If Algerian students start coming to European universities, and Algerian traveling influencers start talking about how cool it is to travel to Algeria, and Algerian artists make media that is consumed in Europe, European people’s opinion of Algeria will improve. And I think that it would be perfectly OK for that to happen, and for the governments of Algeria and Europe to try to cultivate that cultural exchange and bringing down of barriers. Same with literally any other country on earth (especially the ones that I’m very critical of, e.g. USA and Israel, because it still is cool for people to be less ignorant, although with the US particularly I think people are already extremely familiar with their culture and it dominates everything).

Why is it any different with China? Why are Chinese people treated with this suspicion? Why are we contributing to sinophobia by acting like it’s crazy that young people kinda want to be Chinese?