Abstrakt
Recent events in the Czech Republic (CR) offer an interesting case study in Chinese propaganda and disinformation. For the purpose of this article, the distinction between propaganda and disinformation is understood to be the following: Propaganda creates a strategic, mostly positive "grand" narrative that promotes a general agenda, designed to win people over.
For the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), propaganda typically pushes sweeping claims that can include the historical role of the Party in liberating and developing China; the superiority of the CCP-led political system and the inevitability of China's rise. By contrast, disinformation is a tactical (sub)narrative that is mostly negative and defensive in nature and aims to counter inconvenient facts or to subvert opponents' narratives.
It is not chiefly designed to win people over, but rather to sow confusion and distrust. A typical example would be the various alternative "theories" about the origins of the coronavirus (China Brief, February 4), which seek to neutralize Beijing's initial mishandling of the pandemic.
In practice, disinformation provides the tactical support for strategic propaganda narratives. Propaganda tends to be more permanent, while disinformation, which is constantly evolving, seems particularly well-suited to fast-paced and ephemeral online formats.