Beijing should adopt a more assertive approach to global cognitive warfare, Chinese scholars said, calling for more action amid a great power rivalry.
The appeal was made by Wang Wen, dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University, and Ding Zhuang, an associate research fellow at the institute, who said in a paper last week that China should improve its cognitive warfare system with strengthened “cognitive sovereignty”.
“It is necessary to move beyond the traditional, passive mindset of ‘cognitive defence’ and instead adopt the strategic concept of ‘cognitive sovereignty’,” they wrote, noting that this idea was essential for gaining an upper hand in the competition.
Advertisement
“We must not only build a ‘firewall’ to resist external cognitive infiltration, but also forge a ‘spear’ capable of taking the initiative and shaping an international public opinion environment favourable to our own interests,” they argued in last week’s issue of Think Tank: Theory and Practice, a bimonthly journal published by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Nanjing University.
They said methods should include proactively setting agendas, introducing original concepts and creating Chinese narratives.
Advertisement
“We should actively compete for international discursive power, directing the focus of competition towards opposing discursive dominance and cognitive manipulation,” they said.
Influence over public opinion has become a pivotal arena of international competition as emerging economies seek a more active role in global governance.