(The Guardian) New report accuses China of disinformation against Australia
A new report claims the Chinese Communist party is spreading disinformation in Solomon Islands to undermine the relationship between Honiara and its traditional partners such as Australia – and that these efforts appear to be having an impact online.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute says it has examined “CCP online influence in the aftermath of the Honiara riots in late 2021 and in response to the leaked security agreement in March 2022”.
Today’s report says that after the November 2021 riots, the CCP “pushed a fabricated narrative that accused Australia, the US and Taiwan of instigating the riots, fomenting unrest, and smearing the relationship between Solomon Islands and China”. It says this narrative “was pushed through party-state media (both in English and in Chinese) through statements from Chinese officials that were shared by the Chinese Embassy, published in local media outlets and quoted by local journalists”.
After the proposed security agreement between China and Solomon Islands was leaked online in March 2022, the CCP “sought to further undermine Solomon Islands’ relationships with Australia and the US” by pushing “a second but similarly themed narrative – that Australia and the US were colonialist bullies that were threatening Solomon Islands’ sovereignty”.
The report says the data is based on analysis of more than 2,000 Facebook comments, of which 1,470 had identified positive or negative sentiment towards a foreign country, grouping (the west) or the Solomon Islands government. The comments examined “were in response to shared party-state media articles, posts from the Chinese Embassy and posts from the three examined local media outlets that contained information about our two topics of focus – the riots or the Solomon Islands – China security agreement”: There was an overall decline in anti-China Facebook commentary and an increase in pro-China and anti-West commentary in the weeks following the Honiara riots and the leaked China – Solomon Islands security agreement. Analysis of the anti-West online commentary following the leaked security agreement suggests that the local population used language featured in the CCP’s narrative, such as “bullying”, equally as much as language from local politicians who were independently critical of the US for doing “too little, too late” and failing to address the issue of unexploded ordnance on Guadalcanal.
The report says CCP activities in the Solomon Islands information environment “occur across a spectrum ranging from routine diplomatic activity through to coordinated information operations”. The report says routine diplomatic activity, such as the publication of op-eds and press releases, was “being used in conjunction with online amplification activities to support the same overarching objectives: spreading disinformation about the origins of the Honiara riots and undermining the relationship between Solomon Islands and its traditional partners”.
A new report claims the Chinese Communist party is spreading disinformation in Solomon Islands to undermine the relationship between Honiara and its traditional partners such as Australia – and that these efforts appear to be having an impact online.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute says it has examined “CCP online influence in the aftermath of the Honiara riots in late 2021 and in response to the leaked security agreement in March 2022”.
Today’s report says that after the November 2021 riots, the CCP “pushed a fabricated narrative that accused Australia, the US and Taiwan of instigating the riots, fomenting unrest, and smearing the relationship between Solomon Islands and China”. It says this narrative “was pushed through party-state media (both in English and in Chinese) through statements from Chinese officials that were shared by the Chinese Embassy, published in local media outlets and quoted by local journalists”.
After the proposed security agreement between China and Solomon Islands was leaked online in March 2022, the CCP “sought to further undermine Solomon Islands’ relationships with Australia and the US” by pushing “a second but similarly themed narrative – that Australia and the US were colonialist bullies that were threatening Solomon Islands’ sovereignty”.
The report says the data is based on analysis of more than 2,000 Facebook comments, of which 1,470 had identified positive or negative sentiment towards a foreign country, grouping (the west) or the Solomon Islands government. The comments examined “were in response to shared party-state media articles, posts from the Chinese Embassy and posts from the three examined local media outlets that contained information about our two topics of focus – the riots or the Solomon Islands – China security agreement”: There was an overall decline in anti-China Facebook commentary and an increase in pro-China and anti-West commentary in the weeks following the Honiara riots and the leaked China – Solomon Islands security agreement. Analysis of the anti-West online commentary following the leaked security agreement suggests that the local population used language featured in the CCP’s narrative, such as “bullying”, equally as much as language from local politicians who were independently critical of the US for doing “too little, too late” and failing to address the issue of unexploded ordnance on Guadalcanal.
The report says CCP activities in the Solomon Islands information environment “occur across a spectrum ranging from routine diplomatic activity through to coordinated information operations”. The report says routine diplomatic activity, such as the publication of op-eds and press releases, was “being used in conjunction with online amplification activities to support the same overarching objectives: spreading disinformation about the origins of the Honiara riots and undermining the relationship between Solomon Islands and its traditional partners”.
