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US-China relations
ChinaDiplomacy

China urged to forge ‘spear’ for cognitive warfare amid great power rivalry

Prominent academics call on Beijing to move beyond ‘passive mindset’ and shape international public opinion favourable to its interests

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An AI-made video by Chinese state media mocking the United States is seen on a mobile phone in Beijing on April 6. China has been engaged in an intense war of narratives with the US in recent years. Photo: AP
Vanessa Caiin Shanghai
Beijing should adopt a more assertive approach to global cognitive warfare, Chinese scholars said, calling for more action amid a great power rivalry.

The appeal was made by Wang Wen, dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University, and Ding Zhuang, an associate research fellow at the institute, who said in a paper last week that China should improve its cognitive warfare system with strengthened “cognitive sovereignty”.

“It is necessary to move beyond the traditional, passive mindset of ‘cognitive defence’ and instead adopt the strategic concept of ‘cognitive sovereignty’,” they wrote, noting that this idea was essential for gaining an upper hand in the competition.

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“We must not only build a ‘firewall’ to resist external cognitive infiltration, but also forge a ‘spear’ capable of taking the initiative and shaping an international public opinion environment favourable to our own interests,” they argued in last week’s issue of Think Tank: Theory and Practice, a bimonthly journal published by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Nanjing University.

They said methods should include proactively setting agendas, introducing original concepts and creating Chinese narratives.

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“We should actively compete for international discursive power, directing the focus of competition towards opposing discursive dominance and cognitive manipulation,” they said.

Influence over public opinion has become a pivotal arena of international competition as emerging economies seek a more active role in global governance.
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