Thread by @ludovicameacci

Italian leading business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore yesterday had a 4-pages insert praising Chinese economic strategies and EU-China cooperation

A long 🧵on a crucial yet under-scrutinized phenomenon that is part and parcel of CN FP strategy and shapes the way we talk about China

https://twitter.com/aletapparini/status/1599306074917457920

While this is fairly old news for China watchers, the reactions to the quoted tweet testify that Chinese information manipulation efforts are not discussed enough in the (Italian) public debate

The insert is done in partnership with 经济日报, the Economic Daily

The Economic Daily is one of the 15 outlets that the Trump administration designated as 'foreign missions' in 2020, on the grounds that these are "substantially owned, or effectively controlled by a foreign government" reuters.com/article/us-usa…

A quick online search indeed reveals direct links with the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and the publication is indicated as a point of reference for the CCP and the State Council on economic issues

At the top of its editorial board sits Zhen Qingdong, who is also a member of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, CCP's top anti-corruption body

The Sole24Ore-Economic Daily insert 'Focus China' is the result of an MoU signed in March 2019, when the then M5S-Lega government signed the BRI Memorandum during Xi's state visit to Italy
ilsole24ore.com/art/sole-econo…

The MoU was signed between the CEO of Gruppo 24Ore Giuseppe Cerbone, Economic Daily's Zhen Qingdong, and Jiang Jianguo, then vice head of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the CCP (which the article incorrectly refers to as "Communications Department")

While the publication should feature mostly "analysis and data about [Chinese and Italian] economies", praising CN development strategies and Xi Jingping's Thought without mentioning the role of subsidies, forced technology transfers for foreign companies

establishing operations in the CN market or CN predatory investment practices in Europe for instance is quite a political statement. Talking about "European interference over CN interests in Hong Kong and Taiwan" while glossing over China's obligations

under international law, well-documented human rights abuses, and the increasingly restrictive political environment is also a very political choice. This is the only section about China in this edition of Sole24Ore, there are no other mentions whatsoever throughout the newspaper

This means that a non-expert reader does not have any other counterargument to what is blatant CCP propaganda - this is unfortunately not only limited to Il Sole24Ore, similar agreements exist between Class Editori and Xinhua News Agency

Some of these are not in place anymore like the one between AGI (owned by Italy's big oil ENI) and Xinhua or ANSA (Italy's primary news agency) and Xinhua, while others have been recently established like the one between Agenzia Nova and Xinhua

Chinese information manipulation tactics are part and parcel of a foreign policy strategy that wants to 'tell China's story well', fostering an international environment where CN aggressive behaviour is not questioned thus allowing the CCP to advance its interests unhindered

RU disinfo efforts are well-known and became even more apparent with Ukraine invasion, but CN attempts are slowly but steadily making their way into the European information space and risk normalizing instances that are fundamentally contrary to our democratic principles

When CN political apparatus is carefully policing the way Beijing's policy goals are presented to the outside world and seeking to project a non-threatening image of the CCP, who are such inserts/partnerships benefitting?

For more, sources mapping Chinese disinfo efforts in Italy are available online - here is a very preliminary list:
henryjacksonsociety.org/wp-content/upl…
ilfoglio.it/esteri/2020/08…
iai.it/sites/default/…
decode39.com/3977/italy-med…
/end