Fascinating 6-part Chinese strategy to win the global public opinion war, from this CASS article (h/t @judeblanchette): 1. Prepare for "attacks" from U.S. and other media by understanding how foreign media works cssn.cn/zk/wjyya/20200…
2. Establish a coordination mechanism for 24-hr monitoring & responding to US media and foreign public opinion. Involve govt media, private media, diplomats, enterprises & think tanks to coordinate quick and effective counter-attacks
3. Use supervision of public opinion to increase trust and reduce doubt. (V interesting: "Don't cover up, scapegoat, or show partiality in proven shortcomings.. some deficiencies in process of foreign aid and epidemic prevention should be reported to govt depts for improvement")
4. Diversify external communications. Strengthen non-mainstream media, support WeChat, Weibo and Tiktok to counterbalance Twitter, FB and YouTube. Mobilize companies, think tanks, foreign scholars & experts who are "China-friendly" to speak & write articles on foreign platforms.
5. Improve empathic communication to create image of objective, fair media. Use statistics e.g. Pew survey showing 65% of Americans think Trump's coronavirus response is slow. "Use foreign audiences' favorite expressions & narrative forms to affect them" esp on social media
6. Strengthen & train human talent for foreign communications. Hire and train ppl to write op-eds in foreign languages. Hire or "borrow" think tank experts and foreign journalists for China's use, e.g. to edit Chinese state media abroad and help it reach native standards
