TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An Australian think tank has published a report about how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has resorted to bullying in its engagements with foreign governments over the past decade, calling for a coordinated countermeasure.
Titled “The Chinese Communist Party’s coercive diplomacy,” the report was compiled by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). It chronicled 152 cases involving 27 countries in which Beijing has exerted coercive diplomacy to get its way.
According to the report, China's bullying tactics against governments and companies have escalated since 2018. Among the most affected regions are Europe, North America, Oceania, and East Asia.
The coercive diplomacy has taken the form of measures aimed to punish conduct that displeases the CCP. These include arbitrary detention, investment and trade restrictions, popular boycotts, and state-issued threats.
By blocking websites, imposing penalties, and inciting public anger, the CCP has managed to force targeted parties to apologize. The report finds that as much as 82.7 percent of the bullied have issued apologies and that few of their respective governments stood up for them.
Examples include the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration’s 2018 demand that international airlines change how they refer to Taiwan on websites or face “disciplinary actions.” More recently, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (王毅) quickly denounced the Czech delegation's visit to Taiwan, threatening that the group would “pay a heavy price for their shortsighted behavior and political opportunism.”
The report offers some recommendations on how countries can jointly push back against CCP pressure. These include increasing global awareness about coercive diplomacy, generating a coordinated response, building a Five Eyes economic security pact, developing protocols to help the business community cope, and underscoring the risks of doing business with China.