Through a combination of market coercion and intimidation, the Chinese Communist Party is trying to constrain how people in the United States and other Western democracies talk about China.
This encroachment needs a measured response—what we might call freedom-of-speech operations, or FOSOPs for short. American universities can take the lead. They should routinely hold events on the fate of Taiwan, the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, the repression of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, and other topics known to be sensitive to the Chinese government. These events can be organized by students, faculty, or research centers. They need not originate from a university’s administration. If anything, the message that FOSOPs send—everything in the United States is subject to open debate, especially on college campuses—is even stronger if the pressure comes from the grass roots.
I've noted China's effort to shape the news on China before it even reaches their subjects at home. And controlling their subjects or just ethnic Chinese abroad helps reduce the damage of weaknesses in that system of influence.
See also our "news" organizations like the Washington Post:
I know I've mentioned this before--but I'll be darned if I can find it--but China places propaganda in the Washington Post and New York Times designed to look like news articles rather than the paid propaganda it is. Fake news of the worst kind.
And Confucius Institutes on our campuses are just one part of the massive effort.
Our colleges should be ashamed of siding with a China that suppresses freedom in Hong Kong, threatens a free Taiwan, oppresses conquered Tibetans, and is setting up a 1984-style of society control for all Chinese:
I've mentioned that China is hard at work building the Beta version of Dystopian Surveillance Police State 1.0 in restive Xinjiang province (somewhere in that data dump). But the features are being built everywhere in China. Not even jaywalking or how much toilet paper you use is beneath notice. This should scare the Hell out of people. Remember that even here almost all of us voluntarily carry around devices that can record what we say and where we go 24/7. No way that would be used against us by companies or our government, right? Right?? Tips to Instapundit.
And now China has a freaking system of concentration camps in Xinjiang.
Seriously, if American colleges had Aryan Institutes in the late 1930s would we think that was cool?
And I'm not forgetting about you, NBA: "Hong Kong protesters stood up for the Uighurs. Why can the NBA still defend working with Chinese concentration camp guards?"
NOTE: The author's term is based on Navy Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPS) around the world, including near China, to defend international waters from national claims.
UPDATE: And yes, I am inspired by Hong Kongers protesting for freedom. They deserve to win.
But I fear for those people locked in a death match with the Chinese Communist Party.
