China and Russia, with a synchronized narrative, worked against the membership of Finland and Sweden in NATO

Following the launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, state media in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Russian Federation have employed similar tactics in their information operations, often spreading similar stories about the war. Like Russia, China uses internet accounts from embassies and diplomats to spread official narratives and make them appear more credible.

So says the report by NATO’s Strategic Communication Centre of Excellence, which conducted two analyses, one focusing on Sweden and the other on Finland, examining Russian and Chinese narratives related to their applications for NATO membership, reports The Geopost .

In this report, China’s relations with these two countries have been extensively mentioned over the years.

According to this study, the Chinese media system disseminates its narrative “frames” to an international audience through a highly developed, hierarchical and disciplined apparatus. At the top of this system are official statements by high-ranking members, ministers or ambassadors of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Official statements are disseminated and processed through state media and increasingly amplified on social media.

“Like Russia, China uses embassy and diplomatic internet accounts to disseminate official narratives and make them appear more credible,” the report states.

The many similarities between the Chinese and Russian media’s coverage of the war are not surprising; both sides share concerns about NATO and the West in general. Just three weeks before the Russian invasion began; Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping issued a joint statement expressing their opposition to “further expansion of NATO” and also declared that their friendship had “no limits”.

When Sweden officially applied for membership of the alliance on May 18, 2022, this triggered strong negative reactions in Russian and Chinese state media networks.

Media that wrote about Sweden’s accession to NATO

Sweden’s relations with China before 2022 were mainly characterized by growing economic ties and diplomatic interactions, although these relations were occasionally strained by issues related to human rights and China’s domestic politics. Sweden, known for its strong stance on human rights, has openly criticized China over issues such as the treatment of dissidents and the situation in Tibet and Xinjiang. This criticism was not welcomed by China, so Sweden took a position that balanced its economic interests with China against broader concerns about China’s growing influence in international affairs.

On the other hand, Finland’s relations with China have developed smoothly since 1950. There have been no serious diplomatic scandals and no economic interdependence, and in 2020 China has become Finland’s fifth most important trading partner.

Keywords used in the research in Chinese and Russian state media

In recent years, the two countries, i.e. Russia and China, have also joined forces by sharing the same anti-Western narratives, where we can take the COVID-19 vaccines and the Russia-Ukraine war as an example.

While Russia and China share concerns about NATO, their different geopolitical strategies and bilateral relations with European countries influence the way they shape and disseminate narratives

/TheGeopost