China’s Transnational Impact

Abstract

The Chinese Party-state’s extraterritorial influence in and beyond the media landscape has important consequences for political life and engagement outside of China. What has been changing rapidly in recent years is the Chinese state’s exercised of many of its governance techniques outside of China. Although the Chinese state does not enjoy a monopoly of violence outside of China’s territory, it is able to leverage the dependence of foreign individuals and entities on China and Chinese actors. Clearly, the Chinese Party-state has extraterritorial influence on media—including but not limited to media outlets, social media, production companies, and academic publishers—and a variety of other actors and institutions outside of China. This influence can have enormous effects on how people exercise their freedom of speech, expression, and association, as well as how they engage in political, civic, and intellectual life.