A major analysis of how China is attempting to become a media and information superpower around the world, seeking to shape the politics, local media, and information environments of both East Asia and the World.

Since China's ascendancy toward major-power status began in the 1990s, many observers have focused on its economic growth and expanding military. China's ability was limited in projecting power over information and media and the infrastructure through which information flows. That has begun to change. Beijing's state-backed media, which once seemed incapable having a significant effect globally, has been overhauled and expanded. At a time when many democracies' media outlets are consolidating due to financial pressures, China's biggest state media outlets, like the newswire Xinhua, are modernizing, professionalizing, and expanding in attempt to reach an international audience. Overseas, Beijing also attempts to impact local media, civil society, and politics by having Chinese firms or individuals with close links buy up local media outlets, by signing content-sharing deals with local media, by expanding China's social media giants, and by controlling the wireless and wired technology through which information now flows, among other efforts.

In Beijing's Global Media Offensive--a major analysis of how China is attempting to build a media and information superpower around the world, and how this media power integrates with other forms of Chinese influence--Joshua Kurlantzick focuses on how all of this is playing out in both China's immediate neighborhood--Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand--and also in the United States and many other parts of the world. He traces the ways in which China is trying to build an information and influence superpower, but also critically examines the new conventional wisdom that Beijing has enjoyed great success with these efforts. While China has worked hard to build a global media and information superpower, it often has failed to reap gains from its efforts, and has undermined itself with overly assertive, alienating diplomacy. Still, Kurlantzick contends, China's media, information and political influence campaigns will continue to expand and adapt, helping Beijing exports its political model and protect the ruling Party, and potentially damaging press freedoms, human rights, and democracy abroad. An authoritative account of how this sophisticated and multi-pronged campaign is unfolding, Beijing's Global Media Offensive provides a new window into China's attempts to make itself an information superpower.

Chapter 1: Building a Giant - or a Giant Failure? Chapter 2: A Short Modern History of China's Soft- and Sharp-Power Approaches Chapter 3: The First Charm Offensive Sets the Stage for Today Chapter 4: Motivations for China's Modern Influence Campaign Chapter 5: Opportunities Chapter 6: The Soft-Power Tool Kit: Media and Information Coming Through the Front Door Chapter 7: Xinhua and Content-Sharing Deals: A Success Story Chapter 8: The Sharp-Power Tool Kit: Media and Information Slipping Through the Back Door Chapter 9: Controlling the Pipes Chapter 10: Old Fashioned Influence Chapter 11: China's Mixed Effectiveness Chapter 12: A Path Forward: Pushing Back against China's Information and Influence Activities

Joshua Kurlantzick , Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations

Joshua Kurlantzick is a Senior Fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Kurlantzick was previously a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he studied Southeast Asian politics and economics and China's relations with Southeast Asia, including Chinese investment, aid, and diplomacy. He is the author of five previous books on China and Southeast Asia.

"In this deeply-researched, fair-minded and highly readable account, Kurlantzick describes how China's attempt to create its own version of Al Jazeera failed on account of the turgid content it produced in an atmosphere of censorship." -- Denis Staunton, Irish Times

"Joshua Kurlantzick admits that much of China's international effort fails to attract audiences more accustomed to rigorous and convincing output. But, the author warns, China's leaders have proven to be consistently adaptable. In a world in which democracy appears ever more fragile, while media in liberal democracies suffer the effects of a collapsing business model and interfering proprietors, "telling China's story better" might prove to be worryingly more effective in the future." -- Isabel Hilton , Times Literary Supplement

"Given that Xi has explicitly stated the need to boost China's "discourse power," it is essential that targeted countries improve their understanding of what China is doing and build resilience within their societies, and Beijing's Global Media Offensive lays out a helpful set of recommendations for doing so...Kurlantzick also encourages democracies to double down on calling more attention to what China is up to, especially in struggling democracies. This book provides an excellent starting point for these efforts." -- Kelley E. Currie , Journal of Democracy

"ambitious ... The author painstakingly draws on scores of noteworthy studies and his own knowledge of Southeast Asia and beyond to construct a driving narrative." -- Vivien Marsh

"Foreign information campaigns in and against the United States are nothing new, but China's global effort is unprecedented in scale. This detailed assessment brings the threat into focus and suggests important ways to counteract it." -- John Bolton, Former US National Security Advisor (2018-2019) and Former US Ambassador to the United Nations (2005-2006)

"A highly illuminating narrative and a remarkable articulation of how China builds sharp power around the world and wield influence especially in developing countries. The book is a must-read for anyone trying to understand China's global information campaign." -- Yun Sun, Director of China Program, the Stimson Center

"In Beijing's Global Media Offensive, Joshua Kurlantzick has produced a lucid and penetrating investigation into the history, theory, and practice of China's global influence efforts. He shows that behind a veil of 'non-interference' in other nations' internal affairs, Beijing engages in a growing range of open and covert efforts to make friends, influence people, and shape foreign nations in ways supportive of its increasing global ambitions. Kurlantzick knows this terrain well, detailing the challenge posed by China's global media and influence efforts, and what the democratic world can do in response. Essential reading for a dawning era of superpower competition." -- Sebastian Strangio, Southeast Asia editor at The Diplomat and author of In the Dragon's Shadow: Southeast Asia in the Chinese Century

"This is a truly important book. Full of thoughtful insights and copious details, Joshua Kurlantzick has produced the missing link in our understanding of one of the most underappreciated geopolitical phenomena of our time: China's use of media and information tools to present itself to the world in a benign light while undermining the United States and other liberal democracies. Kurlantzick leads the way for an important reconsideration of how political motivations, rather than economic concerns, are now the main driver behind China's international engagement." -- Joshua Eisenman, Associate Professor of Politics in the Keough School of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame

"Kurlantzick has written a very comprehensive, accessible and timely account of China's efforts to expand its global media influence that will be of interest to anyone seeking a better understanding of China's rise to great power status." -- Amitav Acharya, International Affairs

"A very comprehensive, accessible and timely account of China's efforts to expand its global media influence that will be of interest to anyone seeking a better understanding of China's rise to great power status." -- Amitav Acharya, International Affairs

"Joshua Kurlantzick's new book is a timely contribution that arrives at a crucial juncture." -- Hangwei Li, Asian Affairs 54.2

"In this deeply-researched, fair-minded and highly readable account, Kurlantzick describes how China's attempt to create its own version of Al Jazeera failed on account of the turgid content it produced in an atmosphere of censorship." -- Denis Staunton