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Chinese Malign Influence And CHINESE MALIGN INFLUENCE AND THE CORROSION OF DEMOCRACY i CHINESE MALIGN INFLUENCE AND THE CORROSION OF DEMOCRACY An Assessment of Chinese Interference in Thirteen Key Countries By the International Republican Institute Edited by David Shullman Copyright © 2019 International Republican Institute. All rights reserved. Permission Statement: No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the International Republican Institute. Requests for permission should include the following information: • The title of the document for which permission to copy material is desired. • A description of the material for which permission to copy is desired. • The purpose for which the copied material will be used and the manner in which it will be used. • Your name, title, company or organization name, telephone number, e-mail address and mailing address. Please send all requests for permission to: Attention: Department of External Affairs International Republican Institute 1225 Eye Street NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20005 [email protected] Disclaimer: This publication was made possible through the support provided by the National Endowment for Democracy. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Endowment for Democracy. Acknowledgements These case studies were written by John Fei, Shehryar Fazli, Amara Thiha, Humaidha (Humay) Abdul Ghafoor, Gergely Salat, Lorena Herrera, Botond Feledy, Sait Matty Jaw, Vuk Vuksanovic, Wing Hoong Nyee, Maryam Azwer, and several other in-country researchers who declined to be named, under the editorship of IRI Senior Advisor David Shullman. We are grateful to the National Endowment for Democracy for its support of this initiative. About the BRIDGE Initiative In recognition of the challenges posed by foreign authoritarian influence, the International Republican Institute (IRI) developed a framework to strengthen the ability to resist this threat. This initiative, entitled Building Resiliency for Interconnected Democracies in Global Environments (BRIDGE), is funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The BRIDGE framework takes a two-pronged approach to tackling this challenge: 1) Increasing knowledge of the nature of authoritarian tactics; and 2) Engaging stakeholders to develop and implement their own strategies to confront these tactics. By engaging stakeholders across sectors — including government officials, political parties, media, private enterprise, and civil society actors — IRI is bolstering the resilience of democratic institutions to authoritarian influence. The research presented in this report is part of a growing compendium of case studies documenting China’s authoritarian influence tactics and the elements of effective democratic resilience, which directly informs BRIDGE programming. Glossary: Key Terms and Abbreviations Belt and Road Initiative (BRI): A global development strategy adopted by the Chinese government involving infrastructure development and investments in across Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas. The projects and methods of investment could serve to strengthen China’s economic and security interests. Chinese Communist Party (CCP): The founding and ruling political party of the People’s Republic of China. Debt trap: A situation in which a debt is difficult or impossible to repay, typically because high interest payments prevent repayment of the principal. Elite capture: A form of corruption in which public officials and national elites manage or direct government projects in a manner that enables them to misdirect resources for their own personal financial gain to the detriment of the public. Foreign direct investment (FDI): An investment made by a firm or individual in one country in business interests located in another country; this sometimes refers to the aggregation of all foreign investments into or from a particular country. Great firewall: A colloquial term for mainland China’s internet censorship system. Sovereign debt: The amount of money that a government has borrowed, typically issued as bonds denominated in a reserve currency. State-owned enterprise (SOE): A legal entity that is created by a government in order to partake in commercial activities on the government’s behalf. China’s SOEs, among the largest and most powerful in the world, are responsible for a large portion of BRI activity. Common Acronyms 1MDB:1Malaysia Development Berhad ICT: information computing and telecommunications ALP: Australian Labor Party IMF: International Monetary Fund ASEAN: Association of Southeast Asian Nations IRI: International Republican Institute ASIO: Australian Security Intelligence Organization ISIS: Malaysia’s Institute of Strategic and International Studies AU: Australian dollars LED: light-emitting diode BN: Barisan Nasional coalition MCA: Malaysian Chinese Association BOC: Bank of China MCTCO: Maldives China Trade and Cultural Organization BRI: Belt and Road Initiative MDP: Maldivian Democratic Party CASS: Chinese Academy of Social Sciences MOU: memorandum of understanding CCCC: China Communications Construction Company MPS: China’s Ministry of Public Security CCP: Chinese Communist Party NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization CCTV: closed-circuit-television PH: Pakatan Harapan opposition party CEIEC: China National Electronics Import and Export Corporation PLA: People’s Liberation Army CGN: China General Nuclear Power Group PM: Prime Minister CHALCO: Aluminum Corporation of China SEZ: Special Economic Zones CMEC: China-Myanmar Economic Corridor SOE: state-owned enterprise CPP: Cambodian People’s Party TBEA: a Chinese manufacturer of power transformers EU: European Union TGSP: Trans Sabah Gas Pipeline FDI: foreign direct investment UDG: Union Development Group FOCAC: Forum on China-Africa Cooperation UMNO: United Malays National Organization FTA: Free Trade Agreement UTG: University of The Gambia GDP: gross domestic product ZNBC: Zambia’s state broadcaster ICBC: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China CHINESE MALIGN INFLUENCE AND THE CORROSION OF DEMOCRACY CONTENTS 43 25 39 51 17 11 47 31 59 21 55 35 65 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................................3 Executive Summary of Key Findings ......................................................................................................5 Recommendations ....................................................................................................................................9 Cambodia ................................................................................................................................................11 Pakistan ....................................................................................................................................................17 Sri Lanka ...................................................................................................................................................21 Serbia .......................................................................................................................................................Copyright ©25 Free Vector Maps.com Ecuador ....................................................................................................................................................31 Zambia ......................................................................................................................................................35 Mongolia ..................................................................................................................................................39 Hungary ....................................................................................................................................................43 The Gambia .............................................................................................................................................47 Myanmar .................................................................................................................................................51 Malaysia....................................................................................................................................................55 The Maldives ............................................................................................................................................59 Australia ..................................................................................................................................................65 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................................................71 CHINESE MALIGN INFLUENCE AND THE CORROSION OF DEMOCRACY 3 INTRODUCTION China has engaged with countries throughout the developing world for decades, primarily seeking critical resource needs and new markets for its rapidly growing economy. Yet in recent years, Beijing is taking a significantly more aggressive approach to advancing its expanding interests in developing countries, leveraging unprecedented levels of influence to achieve its desired political and economic ends. Some of this influence is a natural result of China’s growing economy and its government’s related efforts
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