China News Service, February 4 (Wen Tianxia) "Informed people" or "authoritative scholars" broke the news about China's negative news, and then the media was responsible for "digging deeply". In the process, some politicians "echoed each other" and further Supplementary "materials" - Thus, a "black industry chain of anti-China public opinion" from fabricating lies to launching attacks has been "closed."

　　In recent years, some Western media and institutions have been keen on concocting anti-China fake news. From the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics to the "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum, when China holds some major events, Western public opinion will always demonize China. They even fabricated the so-called "debt crisis" in an attempt to create a negative image of China through language traps.

　　Upon closer inspection, it is not difficult to find that although there are many tricks, there is no difference in essence. The purpose is to try to suppress China. All kinds of evidence point the masterminds behind this black industry chain in the same direction—Washington.

File photo: U.S. Capitol Building.

Routine one:

Set up special funds to deal with China

The amount is huge and highly targeted.

　　The U.S. Senate Foreign Affairs Committee passed the "Strategic Competition Act of 2021" in April 2021. Article 132 of the report clearly stated the establishment and operation of a "Counter China Influence Fund."

　　The specific content is: "Authorizes $300 million in each fiscal year from 2022 to 2026 for the Countering China Influence Fund to counter the malign influence of the Chinese Communist Party around the world."

Screenshot of part of the U.S. Senate’s “Strategic Competition Act of 2021” that mentions “countering China’s influence funds.”

　　Section 132 of the document also contains “Approved Appropriations,” which reads, “Authorizes $100 million in each fiscal year from fiscal years 2022 to 2026 for the U.S. Agency for Global Media to support local media, establish independent media, and Combat disinformation inside and outside China, invest in censorship-subverting technology, and monitor and evaluate ongoing and new programs.”

　　In other words, the U.S. Congress has set up a "special fund" to smear China. The amount is huge and highly targeted. Its intentions are clear at a glance!

Routine two:

Abuse of the media, training journalists

External export of counterfeiting process

　　According to the specific division of labor in the bill, the U.S. Agency for International Media, which is mainly responsible for the specific work of "smearing China", was formerly the U.S. Broadcasting Commission established in 1994 and is responsible for managing international broadcasting activities for U.S. foreign propaganda.

　　American media such as Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA), which serve as vanguards against China, all belong to this organization.

　　In addition, the United States also uses its global hegemony and financial inducements to export the counterfeiting process to other regions of the world, cultivating some local media to participate in the anti-China propaganda industry chain. It’s not hard to imagine why the “VOAs” spare no effort to discredit China.

Screenshot of part of the U.S. Senate's "Strategic Competition Act of 2021" that mentions discrediting the "One Belt, One Road" initiative.

　　Not only that, in Article 136 of the bill, the United States has also specially formulated a smear strategy against the "One Belt, One Road" initiative, mainly to train a large number of anti-China journalists.

　　The bill reads: “The (U.S.) Secretary of State, through the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, and in coordination with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, shall provide journalists with the investigative technical support and training necessary to ensure public understanding of the 'Belt and Road Initiative'. Initiative, China’s surveillance and digital technology exports, and other overseas influence operations directly or indirectly supported by the Chinese Communist Party or the Chinese government.”

Routine three:

Put on the cloak of “academic authority”

It’s hard for the financial backers to hide their “fox tail”

　　In addition to direct output from media affiliated with the US government, many anti-China articles are also disguised as "academic" and "objective".

　　In November 2023, the "Aid Data" project (AidData) headquartered at the College of William and Mary in the United States released a research report on the "One Belt, One Road" initiative. The article directly called China "the world's largest official debt collector." , and pointed out that "80% of China's overseas loan portfolio in developing countries has flowed to countries with financial difficulties."

　　The financial backer behind this research organization called AidData is the US government.

Instructions on the official website of the "AidData" project regarding acceptance of US$25 million in funding from the US Agency for International Development for the first five years.

　　According to its official website, the agency was established in 2012 and received a total of US$25 million in funding from the United States Agency for International Development in the first five years.

　　On the website of the US Agency for International Development, AidData is also specially introduced, saying that it is a "partnership" between it and seven world-class universities. The US Agency for International Development has provided US$137 million in funding to this so-called "partner" in five years, extending its reach to more than 100 partner institutions in academia, civil society, and governments in 38 countries and regions around the world.

Routine four:

Creating unnecessary "crisis" for a long time

Discourse traps are full of loopholes

　　The United States has created a series of anti-China industrial chains and the Western media has carried out anti-China propaganda all year round, which is essentially for its own selfish interests. In order to maintain its international institutional power and monopoly position, it slanders, slanders, blocks and blocks conceptual initiatives such as building a community with a shared future for mankind and co-building the “One Belt, One Road” in multilateral institutions, and obstructs the inclusion of relevant conceptual initiatives in the documents of the United Nations and other international organizations. .

　　In the entire smear industry chain, the "debt crisis" card seems to be played particularly smoothly.

　　Since the United States and the West have always regarded themselves as colonizers in Africa, the "One Belt, One Road" initiative's tone of promoting local development in Africa is incompatible with their traditional policies. As a result, the discourse trap of "debt crisis" came into being.

File map: USAID headquarters.

　　According to media reports, Hussein Askari, deputy director of the Swedish “Belt and Road Initiative” Research Institute, traced the origin of the term “debt trap” and found that the term only entered the public eye in May 2018. At that time, the U.S. State Department distributed a document from the Harvard Kennedy School titled "Debt Diplomacy" to various media outlets, and one of the authors of the document was an official from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

　　According to statistics, since 2018, reports on the debt problem of the "One Belt, One Road" have increased significantly, including a large number of reports from Western mainstream media, as well as "academic articles" from institutions such as the College of William and Mary.

Data map: On May 31, 2017, the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway was successfully opened. Photo by China News Service reporter Song Fangcan

Not telling the facts and ignoring the public sentiment

Smearing and spreading rumors reflects one’s own anxiety

　　Although the United States has spared no effort to smear it through various tactics, according to the article "Falacies and Truth in the United States' Perception of China" published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, a research report issued by the World Bank has clearly stated that the "One Belt, One Road" initiative has been fully implemented It can lift 32 million people out of moderate poverty where the average daily living cost is less than US$3.2, indicating that jointly building the “Belt and Road” will effectively improve the level of human rights protection in more countries.

　　The article pointed out that in October 2021, the WTO will conduct its eighth review of trade policies with China. Members fully recognized China's efforts in safeguarding the multilateral trading system and participating in the work of the WTO, and appreciated China's achievements in promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, expanding opening up, and jointly building the "Belt and Road" initiative.

　　Regarding the debt issue, the article pointed out that China attaches special importance to the sustainability of project debt and signed the "Belt and Road" Financing Guiding Principles with 26 "Belt and Road" countries as early as 2017. In 2019, China released the "Belt and Road Initiative Debt Sustainability Analysis Framework", which is based on the debt situation and repayment ability of debtor countries, adheres to equal consultation, compliance with laws and regulations, openness and transparency, and increases the emphasis on the economic, social, and people's livelihood benefits of the project. Supervise and evaluate, guide the flow of sovereign debt to efficient areas, and ensure the long-term benefits of the project. At the same time, China has also proactively "reduced the burden" on debtor countries.

Data map: Colombo Port City, Sri Lanka. Image source: Embassy of Sri Lanka in China

　　"South Asian countries need China in the development process, because China is synonymous with 'development'. China's 'Belt and Road' initiative has brought benefits to almost all South Asian countries." January 17, 2022, Sri Lanka's "Daily News" The published article "The development of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal needs China" mentioned, "As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, we are the beneficiaries of Chinese projects. Many people only hype the 'China debt trap' in this regard, but no one mentions it. China’s investment in Sri Lanka’s seaports, airports, national highways and power distribution centers has brought us development.”

　　As of October 2023, the Belt and Road Initiative has attracted nearly US$1 trillion in investment, formed more than 3,000 cooperation projects, and lifted nearly 40 million people out of poverty. The total import and export volume between China and co-building countries has exceeded 19 trillion. U.S. dollars, with two-way investment totaling more than 380 billion U.S. dollars.

　　The United States has wooed some Western countries and launched all-out smearing and attacks on China, which essentially reflects its own anxiety about the decline of its international status and influence. In the face of real data and the voice of the international community, the rumors are self-defeating and can only highlight the weakness of the rumor makers themselves.

　　The people of both China and the United States have the right to pursue a better life. The vast earth can fully accommodate the respective development and common prosperity of China and the United States. The United States does not need to deliberately create an anti-China industrial chain, but should work with China to find the right way to get along and promote The continued improvement and development of Sino-US relations is in line with the aspirations of the two peoples and the expectations of the world. (over)