Overview
Changed To address the various challenges posed by PRC’s growing the People’s Republic of China (PRC)‘s evolving overseas influence, Doublethink Lab is taking the role of establishing a global network, facilitating China In The World (CITW), a global network that facilitates supports knowledge sharing, capacity building, capacity-building, and collaboration toward international advocacy among civil society.
Changed The China Index is the CITW’s first cross-regional project to be conducted in the CITW network. project. Through the Index, we seek to establish an interactive and geographic world map that visualizes China’s expanding the PRC’s evolving influence in different countries. The Index will focus on PRC’s captures PRC influence in across nine domains: media, foreign policy, academia, domestic politics, economy, technology, society, military, Domains: Academia, Domestic Politics, Economy, Foreign Policy, Law Enforcement, Media, Military, Society, and law enforcement. Technology. Each of these domains will contain Domains contains 11 key indicators for measurement Indicators corresponding to an observable phenomenon of PRC influence, and will present presents comparable data collected by regional partner organizations (as respondents or reviewers) Regional Partners through collaboration with local experts.
Changed Roy Chun Lee (李淳)
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Removed
Removed
About China In The World (CITW)
Added
About Doublethink Lab
Added
Funders and the host
Removed
Removed
Methodology in brief
Key Definitions
Changed PRC: People’s Republic of China. We use this term and not China nor the Chinese Communist Party. Party to represent the entire Chinese state.
Changed PRC Influence: influence: The power to affect the decisions of other countries so that they align with the cultural, diplomatic, economic, military, political, or social interests of the PRC.
Changed The data underlying the China Index will be is collected via a questionnaire Indicators distributed to regional partners. Eligible partners will include qualified, qualified and nonpartisan research institutes, think tanks, community representatives, as well as civil society organizations. organizations and independent journalists.
Changed We will To minimize potential bias, we ask regional partners to consult and verify the data with as many local experts as much as possible. Each response should be backed by evidence from at least one supporting reference; this supporting evidence will be is published with as part of the final results. China Index.
Added
Added
Added
Removed
Removed
Removed
Removed
Removed
Removed
Removed
Removed
Timeframe
Added
Added
Indicator development
Indicator selection process
Added
Design guidelines
Changed The questionnaire will be Indicators were designed with the following factors: factors in mind:
Changed Domain indicators: Indicators: Within each domain, Domain, each of the eleven questions will target 11 Indicators targets a single observable feature of PRC influence that is both relevant and important to the scope of the domain. Domain. Each question will correspond feature corresponds to one indicator. Indicator.
Changed Question/indicator Indicator independence: Each question will be Indicator is conceptually independent of the others in the same domain. Domain. There will be no overlap between questions Indicators to avoid double counting.
Changed Option scales: Depending on the nature of the question, the options could Indicator, responses are either be designed for binary (yes or no) or graded from 0 to 4. Higher scale values will always indicate a higher degree of PRC influence.
Changed Neutrality: No question will invite Indicator invites value judgment on the presence or absence of PRC influence. Each question will focus Indicator focuses on a single issue without subjective feeling or preference. issue.
Changed Balance: Questions Indicators within a single domain will be Domain are designed to cover equal scope within that domain, Domain, such that each question/indicator Indicator merits equal weight within its domain. Domain.
Added
Added
Removed
Removed
Indicator development process
Changed Candidate indicators Indicators relevant to measuring PRC influence in each domain Domain are suggested by the questionnaire committee Index Committee in collaboration with Doublethink Lab. The candidate indicators Doublethink. Candidate Indicators are then modified to suit the criteria defining good indicators and to fit the grading system. Finally, a The final set of eleven indicators is chosen that 11 Indicators capture the most important aspects of PRC influence.
Changed Indicators are one of two types: binary (YES/NO) or graded. Binary indicators Indicators ask for the presence or absence of a particular phenomenon. Graded questions Indicators consider the scale and significance of the phenomenon (see next section).
Grading system
Changed The goal of the grading system is to capture more nuanced data for further comparison between countries. The grading system addresses the problem that the scale and significance of an indicator Indicator can vary across countries, and therefore so does the level of PRC influence. For example, one indicator Indicator asks whether Chinese Students and Scholars’ Associations (CSSAs) are present in the country. In terms of scale, there may be a CSSA at a single CSSA university or every university could have one. In terms of multiple universities. Assessing for significance, the universities at which CSSAs are present could be among the most nationally important, prominent or those with a negligible impact on social and political life. relatively less prestigious.
Changed We, therefore, We therefore provide a grading matrix that accounts for these two factors, mapping them to a score in the a range of integers from one to four:
Changed The grading part of each indicator therefore becomes: As the table above indicates, scores for graded Indicators correspond as follows: 0 = no; no phenomenon; 1 = few, but insignificant; 2 = more than a few, but insignificant; 3 = few, but significant; 4 = more than a few, and significant.
Added
Layer system
Changed The indicators Indicators fall into three categories to measure layers that classify PRC influence: exposure, pressure, and effect.
Changed Most The majority of the indicators ask about Indicators measure the exposure of a country to a mechanism of PRC influence - – e.g. economic dependence, collaboration, or receiving some form of benefit. Some indicators Indicators ask about pressure overtly applied via such a mechanism - through these mechanisms of PRC influence – e.g. threatening economic punishment to provoke or prevent a political decision. Other indicators Indicators ask about the observable effects following from effect brought about through mechanisms of influence, or changes in decision-making changes toward in favor or align with PRC’s of PRC interests - – e.g. allowing Huawei loosening of business regulations to build 5G networks. facilitate inbound PRC investment. These three classes of indicators can be seen to layers form a causal chain, from exposure via pressure to effects, which appears sufficient to capture effect, that captures the PRC influence. influence process.
Added
Exclusion of measure of resistance to influence
Added
Model of Influence
Removed
Conflicts or resistance
Removed
How are the indicators generated?
Removed
Grading
Removed
Removed
Data collection
Regional partner and geography selection
Added
Added
Eligibility requirements for regional partners and local experts
Changed They should Must be academics or professionals with expertise in certain domains, specific Domains, independent journalists or nonpartisan researchers, think tanks or civil society organizations, and or community leaders.
Changed Their employees or members must Must not be on the U.S. Department of Treasury’s list of the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (http://sdnsearch.ofac.treas.gov).
Changed They must Must not have directly or indirectly received funding, donations, any form of payments, or interests from the PRC government of the People’s Republic of China or the apparatus of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Added
Removed
Indicator response guidelines
Changed Each of the indicators Indicators will include 4 fields, all of which must be completed by respondents:
Changed Influence measure: The response to the indicator question. Indicator. For binary questions, Indicators, YES indicates observed PRC influence; NO indicates no observed influence. For graded questions, Indicators, a score of 0 indicates no observed influence and a score of 4 indicates a high degree of observed influence.
Changed Supporting Evidence: evidence: References supporting the chosen response. The evidence provided must be appropriate and sound. Accepted forms of evidence will be limited to a functional URL that directs to news accounts, official documents, think tank reports, NGO publications, academic papers, interviews, and books published within 4 years. Social media posts or other sources may be accepted if deemed appropriate but are generally discouraged.
Changed Supplementary Notes (Optional): notes (optional): Any additional information that the respondent may wish to provide for this question. Indicator. The content of these notes may include but is not limited to:
Changed Local contexts: a) the local current situation is far more extreme than the rating suggested, b) different interpretations regarding the option usually implied, or c) other local factors that may elevate or suppress the impact of the indicator. Indicator.
Changed Evidence to the contrary: If a respondent dissents with their country’s government and believes they’ve been less than sincere in providing the government has not provided accurate information (in the extreme case, the government being the source of disinformation per se) to reflect China’s PRC influence, the respondent should elaborate on the situation and explain how the government has been unreliable or insincere.
Changed Feedback: Reflections on the design of this question. Indicator.
Reducing the impact of bias
Changed Regional partners are responsible for collecting data by consulting with local experts. Questions Indicators should be answered by consulting at least one local expert. There is no limitation for the number of questions Indicators for which an expert could can be consulted, as long as they have qualified expertise.
Changed Questions Indicators that the regional partners consider irrelevant or can either cannot answer “yes” or “no” may be skipped. Respondents will be requested to skip no more than 10 questions (10%) in one questionnaire. Indicators (10%).
Changed Regional partners should find as many qualified and trustworthy local experts within a country as possible. Considering this might be a challenge in some In politically-constrained countries, we set the allow partners to collect data through a minimum limit for a total of one local expert for respondent and one country. additional reviewer.
Changed Access to local experts to fill out the questionnaire: selected Selected local experts may or may not be affiliated with the corresponding regional partner. If they experts are affiliated with the regional partner, these experts they must be excluded from the administration of this the project and the data collection and verification process, including the weighting of domains, in order processes, so as to avoid role procedural conflicts.
Changed Situations that in which regional partners may reach out to a secondary expert to answer the questionnaire: Indicators: (a) If the confidence of answers from the first respondent are low; (b) if the results from the first respondent contain too many unfilled questions. unanswered Indicators.
Changed Local For reasons of safety, local experts may choose not to reveal their identity or association with this project for security reasons. project.
Regional partner selection
Removed
Index Committee
Added
Removed
Project Directors
Added
Added
Added
Added
Index Committee Members 2021
Changed Charles Burton is a Senior Fellow at the Fellow, Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s Institute, Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Fellow, European Values Center for Security Policy. Department of Political Science at Brock University specializing in Comparative Politics, Government and Politics of China, Canada-China Relations and Human Rights, 1989-2020. Counsellor at the Canadian Embassy to China between 1991-1993 and 1998-2000. Previously worked at the Communications Security Establishment of the Canadian Department of National Defence. He has published extensively on Chinese and North Korean affairs and Canada-China relations and has been commissioned to write reports on matters relating to Canada’s relations with China for agencies of the Government of Canada.
Changed J. Michael Cole is a Taipei-based senior fellow with the Global Taiwan Institute in Washington, D.C., the Macdonald-Laurier Institute in Ottawa, senior fellow with Canada, and the Taiwan Studies Programme at the University of Nottingham, U.K., senior fellow with the Global Taiwan Institute in Washington, D.C., and associate researcher with the French Center for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC). UK. Prior to moving to Taiwan in 2005, he was an analyst with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) in Ottawa. He is co-editor with Dr. Hsu Szuchien, holds a Master’s Degree in War Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada. His two latest books, Cross-Strait Relations Since 2016: The End of the Illusion (Routledge) and Insidious Power: How China Undermines Global Democracy, Democracy (co-edited with Dr. Hsu Szu-chien; Eastbridge), were both published in 2020.
Changed Nadège Rolland is Senior Fellow for Political and Security Affairs at NBR, and a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute. Her research focuses mainly on Chinese politics, China’s domestic, foreign and defense policy, grand strategy, and the changes in global dynamics resulting from the rise of China. Drawing on her twenty years of experience as a French government official, she also examines the prospects for transatlantic cooperation in research and policy related to Asia.
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
Added
What will the committee do?
Removed
Removed
Removed
Questionnaire committee members 2021
Removed
Removed
Removed
Removed
The indicators
Media
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: For members of Belt and Road Media Community (BRMC), local respondents can check the following link: http://brmc.chnpec.com/en/member.shtml For members of B&R TV Networks, local respondents can check the following link: http://en.videochina.org.cn/2017/0417/4741.shtml For committee of Beld Belt and Road New News Network (BRNN), local respondents can check the following link: http://cn.brnn.com/414904/414908/index.html
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: This indicator Indicator measures whether there are local media personalities or personnel from local media organizations being trained by PRC state-owned media or PRC-connected entities. Journalists who are hired by PRC media are therefore not part of this category.
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: This indicator Indicator measures whether local media outlets broadcast news, video clips, or other contents provided by PRC state-fund media. The phenomenon can be observed via footages of content pieces. Therefore, press statement from PRC governmental agencies do not fall into the category of contents provided by PRC state-fund media.
Foreign Policy
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: Although in some countries, parliamentary structure does not allow for such groups or committees, we still consider this indicator Indicator as important. “Joint parliamentary friendship group” means joint as PRC and target country representatives.
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: The information is disclosed in the summary and verbatim records of WHO: https://apps.who.int/gb/or/ (Please check the latest records of World Health Assembly, WHA series)
Changed 8. My government has shown support of PRC’s territorial claims (such as on the South China Sea arbitration ruling issued by the UNCLOS Arbitral Tribunal in July 2016; except claims over Taiwan, which are indirectly covered in indicator Indicator 6.) (0 = My country has rejected PRC’s claim; 2 = My country has remained silent; 4 = My country has adhered to PRC’s claim.)
Academia
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: For member of SiLKS, local respondents can check the following link: http://www.esilks.org/about/members For members of Belt and Road Studies Network, local respondents can check the following link: http://www.brsn.net/list/zhikujigou_en/index.html For members of University Consortium of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, local respondents can check the following link: http://www.ucmsr.com/route
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: PRC-connected individuals or entities can pay trips for scholars of surveyed within Index countries by providing scholarships to them. scholarships. However, this indicator Indicator is to measure whether the paid trip is part of China’s PRC influence operations targeting the intellectual community in surveyed within Index countries. Following cases are incidents described by this indicator: Indicator: https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/communist-chinas-influence-operations-indias-think-tanks-politicians-intellectuals-academia-media-targets
Domestic Politics
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: This indicator Indicator is to measure the sub-national or city level partnership, if an agreement is signed at the national level on behalf of the local government, the answer to this indicator Indicator should be positive.
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: This indicator Indicator is to measure whether the paid trip is part of China’s PRC influence operations targeting politicians and governmental employees in surveyed within Index countries. Following cases are incidents described by this indicator: Indicator: https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/communist-chinas-influence-operations-indias-think-tanks-politicians-intellectuals-academia-media-targets & https://amp.abc.net.au/article/9907064
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: This indicator Indicator is to measure whether security service is provided by PRC companies. If there is only hardware purchased from PRC companies, it is not incident described in the indicator. Indicator.
Economy
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: In the report “Banking on the Belt and Road: Insights from a new global dataset of 13,427 Chinese development projects”, hidden debt exposure of some countries to PRC is revealed. You can download the full publication in the following link: https://www.aiddata.org/publications/banking-on-the-belt-and-road
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: We do not include “agroindustry with transgenic seed” in the definition of extractive industries. We consider extractive industries as different activities that lead to the extraction of raw materials from the earth (such as oil, metals, minerals and aggregates).
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: Both in the report “Banking on the Belt and Road: Insights from a new global dataset of 13,427 Chinese development projects” (download full publication here at: https://www.aiddata.org/publications/banking-on-the-belt-and-road ) and on the “The People’s Map of Global China” website (visit the visualized world map of PRC-connected investments: https://thepeoplesmap.net/ ) disclose the infrastructures related to the PRC government and PRC-connected entities.
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: If the country only has intention to build special economic zones to attract investment from the PRC and not yet formalize, the answer to this indicator Indicator remains “NO”. We can update the answer next year to see how it changes. But it will be great to put supplementary notes to further indicate the situation in the country.
Technology
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: If telecoms in the country have purchased hardwares such as routers, switches, server clusters or other devices (such as the “middleboxes” mentioned in the following link: https://www.top10vpn.com/research/huawei-china-surveillance-state/?fbclid=iwar047govzg6aqbparxz_zyxex35a13xejedk_zcziaasaxatlbd0bhzz2j8, which are used to monitor internet traffics and to block certain contents) to serve the purposes of providing internet access, ensuring quality of service (QoS), routing and monitoring internet traffics, collecting and censoring certain contents, or other actions that access, capture or alter the information flows on the network, then the answer of the indicator Indicator shall be “1–4” (i.e. not 0), depending on the scale of the telecoms, the nature of the hardware adoptions and the real impacts of such adoption. It shall also be noted that, while some countries have regulations that prohibit further procurement of such devices, telecoms may not always follow the rules, or they’re currently phasing out such devices and the process is not yet completed, e.g. rural/small-scale telecoms in the U.S.; in these cases, the answer shall still be “1–4” (i.e. not 0), with a brief explanation on the supplementary note to elaborate the current status, if feasible.
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: On the “Mapping China’s Tech Giant’s” website, the track of the expansion of key Chinese technology companies is shown. You may visit the website here at: https://chinatechmap.aspi.org.au/#/homepage/ to acquire data described in the indicator. Indicator.
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: On the “Mapping China’s Tech Giant’s” website, the track of the expansion of key Chinese technology companies is shown. You may visit the website here at: https://chinatechmap.aspi.org.au/#/homepage/ to acquire data described in the indicator. Indicator.
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: For the global service of CIPS, local respondents can check the following link to find out whether the service exists in surveyed within Index countries: https://www.cips.com.cn/ Please note that the information is only shown on the Simplified Chinese version website.
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: This indicator Indicator measures the “usage” of the apps instead of download numbers. However, if the respondent is certain about the usage but can’t manage to find public data, then download numbers can be used as supporting evidence. For download number, local respondents can check the following link: https://sensortower.com/android/rankings/top/mobile/cambodia/overall?locale=zh-CN&iap=all&watch_enabled&rankings_type=free&min_cost=0&max_cost&date=2021-06-12&show_store_dat=true
Society
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: Local respondents may check the following link to find out whether there are activities affiliated to “Promotion of Peaceful Reunification” in surveyed within Index countries: http://www.zhongguotongcuhui.org.cn/hnwtchdt/
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: Local respondents may check the following link to find out whether there are incidents described in this indicator: Indicator: http://www.uwca.net/member.html by identifying members or member organizations in surveyed within Index countries.
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: This indicator Indicator is to measure exchanged activities that are related to PRC-connected professional associations. People-to-people exchanges without associations being involved are thus not incidents described in this indicator. Indicator.
Military
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: If the country has received any in-kind donation (military or law-enforcement equipment) from the PRC, the answer to this indicator Indicator should also be “YES”. But it will be great to put supplementary notes to further indicate the situation in the country. We will consider adding another indicator Indicator to measure donations in money format from the PRC.
Law Enforcement
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: In this indicator, Indicator, we try to see whether there is economic espionage targeting the private sector. The act of attacking the governmental agencies responds to the indicator Indicator Law enforcement-5. An example of economic espionage described in the indicator: Indicator: https://www.wired.com/story/us-hits-huawei-new-charges-trade-secret-theft/
Changed Additional remark on this indicator: Indicator: If the country only has intention to have joint patrols with the PRC police, the answer to this indicator Indicator remains “NO”. We can update the answer next year to see how it changes. But it will be great to put supplementary notes to further indicate the situation in the country.
Glossary
General
Changed PRC influence – Context in methodology: The power to affect the decisions of other countries so that they align with the cultural, diplomatic, economic, military, political, or social interests of the PRC.
Changed PRC-connected individuals and entities – Undertake Actors undertaking activities under an arrangement with; in the service of; on the order or at the request of; or under the direction of the PRC government or party-state apparatus. For the purposes of this survey, the China Index, PRC corporations, enterprises, and state-owned enterprises all fall into this category.
Added
Added
Media
Changed Censoring critical views – Can include both overt censorship and more subtle shifts in editorial balance and tone. For example, in 2008 European satellite operator Eutelsat cut the feed of New Tang Dynasty TV, a US-based multilingual television station funded by the Falun Gong spiritual movement, as a goodwill gesture to the PRC. Other example: In 2015, the nominally private PRC company CEFC acquired a stake in Czech media counterpart Empresa Media, securing access to a TV station (TV Barrandov) and magazines. A study by MapInfluenCE, a group tracking PRC influence, found the acquisition made PRC coverage broadly more positive.
Changed Doubts about human rights abuses in the PRC – For example, a media personality who expresses doubts that there are internment camps in Xinjiang; that suppression of ethnic minorities exists; that human rights defenders are subject to harassment, enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention; or that freedom of expression, association, and religious belief, (etc.) are restricted.
Academia
Changed Research partnership – Formal academic or corporate research partnerships between a higher education institution and a partner entity, including colleagues, universities, and commercial partners, based in the PRC. E.g. For example, Southampton University’spartnership University’s partnership with Harbin Engineering University.
Economy
Changed Sensitive sectors – Sectors that pose the greatest risk from a national security perspective, including aerospace, biotech, communications, critical government suppliers, data infrastructure, defence, defense, energy, engineering, transport, etc.
Changed Support of cause deemed unacceptable by the PRC government – E.g. Causes include: Falun Gong, Taiwanese independence, Hong Kong democracy, Tibet or Xinjiang issues.
Society
Changed Cultural products – For example, books, computer games, movies, music, theatre theater and TV shows, etc.
Changed Propaganda narratives – Ideologically driven narratives that i. Proclaim the superiority of China’s the PRC political system, governance and world view, or the shortcomings of alternatives (such as democracy). ii. Focus on political topics or debates, e.g. Nazi Germany’s concept of Lebensraum, the Empire of Japan’s concept of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, or the PRC’s narrative that COVID-19 did not originate in China.
Law Enforcement
Changed Terrorism – From the perspective of the PRC government, is the use or threatened use of violence to effect political or ideological change in the PRC, used as a justification for repressive “counter-terrorist” policies such as the mass internment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. The definition of terrorism differs among scholars, between international and national bodies and across time and there is no legally binding definition internationally. international legally-binding definition.