For several decades China’s ascendancy has been supported by an astonishingly broad and deep portfolio of quiet coercion. Stories of the Chinese Communist Party’s authoritarian reach are breathtaking, the gagging of sports stars & huge Western brands; Hollywood self-censorship; infrastructure deals in exchange for political loyalty in multilateral organizations; and of course communications firms. But these are just the most visible examples. Beijing Rules exposes the armoury of strategies with which China has exploited Western weakness to position itself as leader in the game of nations: tying market access to political acquiescence; punitive tariffs; online disinformation operations; use of private companies to spy on global users; leveraging vaccines for geopolitical gain; and the crushing of democracy in Hong Kong. With these weapons & dextrous manoeuvrings during the global pandemic, China positioned itself to take its place at the apex of world powers. Bethany Allen, an internationally recognized investigator into China’s covert power, shows Western institutions have bowed to and even enabled Beijing’s coercion. As we come reeling out of a global pandemic and eyes are on a new war in Europe, this revealing analysis sounds the alarm about the most significant shift in the new world order, and what we must do to prevent the loss of freedoms we take for granted.
