China Spends Billions on Global Disinformation, US Contends

The State Department report comes even as the US continues a process of diplomatic re-engagement with China.

Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
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China spends billions of dollars each year to enhance its image around the world, including by sponsoring online influencers and bolstering authoritarian governments through the export of “smart cities” technology, the US government says in a new report.

The State Department’s Global Engagement Center, which works to counter foreign disinformation and propaganda, labeled China a “leading concern” in an 81-page report released Thursday that argues Beijing has worked to spread false information around the world, amplify its propaganda and suppress and censor dissenting voices.