Insidious Power: How China Undermines Global Democracy

China under Xi Jinping has become increasingly powerful and aggressive. What was a government largely focused on defending its own one-party system and assuring the world of its peaceful intent has become a dangerous regime determined to undermine the chief alternative: liberal democracy. Beijing is now "waging a sophisticated and sustained campaign of political warfare against democratic nations, both large and small". With an array of overt and covert tactics, the Chinese Communist Party is attacking the perceived weak points of democratic countries by buying influence, sowing disunity, leveraging its economic might, and infiltrating political parties, the media, and civic institutions. Insidious Power describes the methods used by the CCP to achieve its aims and looks in detail at case studies from the USA, New Zealand, Canada, Spain, the Czech Republic, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Cambodia. This book is a major academic achievement. Understanding the breadth and depth of China's campaign is a very particular kind of challenge, requiring "linguistic and forensic skills, as well as a firm grasp on the history, ideology, and complex internal mechanics of the CCP". Writing about it also requires great courage, and several of the researchers who contributed to this book have already suffered retaliation for their brave work. Insidious China is a crucial window into the CCP's global influence operations and an urgent call to defend democratic and open societies.