Chinese Informational Influence – Lessons from the Baltics

On Wednesday, May 7, from 9:00 to 10:00 CEST, MERICS will host a confidential discussion on Beijing’s efforts to shape and influence European debates about China. A recent study by colleagues at the Geopolitics and Security Studies Centre (GSSC) in Vilnius offers an opportunity to draw on experiences from the Baltic states, which have been particularly exposed to Chinese influence operations. The event is jointly organized by MERICS, GSSC and the Embassy of Lithuania in Berlin. 

Institutions researching and monitoring the informational policies of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are observing a dramatic increase and expansion in Beijing’s efforts to shape and influence the global information space. These vary from propaganda and misinformation and the suppression of critical voices to the promotion of digital authoritarianism, utilizing aggressive means such as intimidation and diplomatic pressure, as well as gaining control over media and information technologies. In the past few years, and especially since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, there is an increasing consensus that Beijing is not only using information to maximize its gains, but rather, along with other autocratic regimes, to instrumentalize a deeper penetration into the informational sphere as a way to undermine and revise the existing international rules-based order. 

These are key findings of a study titled “Classic Cleavages in a New Light: Chinese Informational Influence in the Baltics” jointly conducted by leading experts from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Their research offer valuable lessons for other European countries, both about China’s influence tool-box and about possible responses. The study will be presented by Simona Merkinaite, Chief Project Officer of GSSC and Konstantinas Andrijauskas, Associated Professor at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University and GSSC associated expert. 

Please note that the event is off the record and by personal invitation only. To enable a confidential discussion on a sensitive topic, the event is in person only.