‘Destroy the faith of the people’: Kerry Gershaneck on Beijing’s media warfare | China in Focus
In this special episode, we sat down with professor Kerry Gershaneck, author of “Media Warfare,” as well as Bradley Thayer, founding member of the Committee on the Present Danger: China. They touch on Beijing’s influence overseas through ideological means, such as through media warfare, why Taiwan is such a target, how it relates to the United States and allies, and what it means going forward. Thayer said, “Principally, media warfare is about ideology. And when it comes to ideology, this is a contest the U.S. should win, hands down. U.S. ideology of freedom, #ReligiousFreedom, respect for minority rights, freedom of expression, freedom of opinion, are far more favorable around the globe than the Chinese regime’s totalitarian approach and oppression of minorities, religious minorities, suppression of human rights. So, in theory, at least, the United States should win this battle hands down, but because the U.S. has dropped its guard, we have seen the Chinese regime being able to advance a narrative.” Gershaneck noted that “one of the objectives for the PRC in trying to destroy #Democracy on Taiwan is to destroy the faith of the people that are in the process of democracy, and democratic institutions. They want to divide the people of Taiwan and demoralize them, they want to ensure that there are nothing but economic and diplomatic problems, diplomatic isolation, failure of economic programs, so they grind down the people of Taiwan so they just want to quit again. To win without kinetic warfare, to win without shooting, without fighting, without invading—you basically demoralize people to the point they just quit.”
In this special episode, we sat down with professor Kerry Gershaneck, author of “Media Warfare,” as well as Bradley Thayer, founding member of the Committee on the Present Danger: China. They touch on Beijing’s influence overseas through ideological means, such as through media warfare, why Taiwan is such a target, how it relates to the United States and allies, and what it means going forward. Thayer said, “Principally, media warfare is about ideology. And when it comes to ideology, this is a contest the U.S. should win, hands down. U.S. ideology of freedom, #ReligiousFreedom, respect for minority rights, freedom of expression, freedom of opinion, are far more favorable around the globe than the Chinese regime’s totalitarian approach and oppression of minorities, religious minorities, suppression of human rights. So, in theory, at least, the United States should win this battle hands down, but because the U.S. has dropped its guard, we have seen the Chinese regime being able to advance a narrative.” Gershaneck noted that “one of the objectives for the PRC in trying to destroy #Democracy on Taiwan is to destroy the faith of the people that are in the process of democracy, and democratic institutions. They want to divide the people of Taiwan and demoralize them, they want to ensure that there are nothing but economic and diplomatic problems, diplomatic isolation, failure of economic programs, so they grind down the people of Taiwan so they just want to quit again. To win without kinetic warfare, to win without shooting, without fighting, without invading—you basically demoralize people to the point they just quit.”
