Beijing’s Anti-American Propaganda Creates ‘War Frenzy’ on China’s Internet

The sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recovering a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Feb. 5, 2023. U.S. Navy via AP

News Analysis

After the Chinese spy balloon incident, the Chinese regime denied its involvement in spying on U.S. military assets, and recently, it has been ramping up anti-American propaganda domestically.

China’s internet is filled with disinformation about the United States, including false information about an impending U.S.-China war. It is important to note that the Chinese internet is one of the most censored in the world and that China has created its version of YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc., which are compliant with the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) censors.

On Feb. 16, Shijiazhuang city in Hebei Province experienced many flight delays and cancellations. Chinese social media were immediately flooded with false reports claiming it was due to war between the United States and China. According to a statement from the Civil Aviation Administration of North China, the flight groundings were due to “a flying object that was later confirmed as a balloon.”

One of Beijing’s online news mouthpieces reported that talks of war with the United States are “nonsense” but that it is justified for the Chinese military to “take unidentified balloons seriously” after the United States “overreacted” over a Chinese balloon.

The CCP’s ‘Staged’ Propaganda Show

U.S.-based China watcher Pokong Chen pointed out that the CCP’s news article was initially intended to dispel rumors about a U.S.-China war. However, the report suggested that American balloons might have appeared in China’s skies and that Chinese fighter jets needed to shoot down such balloons. Notably, it did not confirm the existence of unidentified balloons in the sky. Thus, it was part of the CCP’s disinformation campaign, he said.

Furthermore, Chen suggested that the CCP “staged” a balloon show in Shijiazhuang city or made up the incident as an excuse for the grounded flights, as residents did not report any balloon sightings. Beijing is merely using a scare tactic to portray the United States as a hostile adversary, he said.

U.S. officials have previously stated that the Chinese spy balloon shot down on Feb. 4 was part of China’s global surveillance program for military sites, and spy balloons can collect images just like satellites. However, Beijing claimed that it was a meteorological research balloon that drifted away from its planned courses.

Beijing Intends to ‘Muddy the Waters’

Chen Weijian, New Zealand-based editor-in-chief of Beijing Spring, an online monthly magazine focusing on China’s democracy movement, believes the CCP created the Shijiazhuang incident to fuel “war frenzy” sentiment among the Chinese public to foster anti-American sentiments.

Chen told The Epoch Times on Feb. 19 that without the help of the CCP’s propaganda apparatus, most people wouldn’t have believed that air traffic at an airport in a random Chinese city indicated a U.S.-China war.

The CCP was upset when the United States shot down its balloon, he said, and in return, the regime is claiming that the United States had also dispatched balloons and objects to fly over China.

Beijing’s intention was “to muddy the waters,” he said.

The Chinese foreign ministry recently said the United States had flown various unidentified objects into Chinese airspace more than a dozen times. However, Beijing did not provide any details to back up its claims.

After President Joe Biden said he was ready to talk to Chinese leader Xi Jinping about the balloon incident, the Chinese foreign ministry claimed that the United States was “not qualified” to discuss the issue with China. Chen pointed out that such strong language has made some Chinese ultranationalists believe that the CCP is acting tough and is not afraid of armed conflict with the United States. In reality, China simply does not have the capability of going to war with the United States, he added.

Domestic Propaganda: The CCP Acts ‘Tough’

Chen believes the CCP is again mobilizing its anti-American propaganda to let such sentiments dominate public opinion in China, as previously done.

He said, “Even as the CCP is requesting help from the United States, or hoping that the United States can be more lenient on some areas of tech sanctions, the regime’s propaganda is still advocating more than ever that the CCP is being tough on the United States and is rejecting imports from the United States.”

Chen concluded that the CCP’s propaganda would likely act tougher on the United States as the regime softens its stance behind closed doors. But most Chinese people would not be able to see the CCP’s actual stance when Chinese delegates negotiate with the United States.