TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) analyst Alex Joske said in a new research paper Tuesday (June 9) that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has adopted methods other than public diplomacy and propaganda to strengthen its influence over the global community.

In a paper titled "The party speaks for you: foreign interference and the Chinese Communist Party's united front system," Joske stressed that the CCP has recently become more obvious in its attempts to infiltrate political systems around the world. He said the party has successfully influenced foreign politicians, universities, multinational companies, as well as overseas Chinese communities to advance its interests through a CCP unit known as the United Front Work Department (UFWD).

Quoting Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping who described the UFWD as China's secret weapon, Joske pointed out that a coalition of organizations has been involved in the system designed to undermine social cohesion and encourage racial tension. He said the UFWD also requests that entities involved help collect intelligence information for the CCP as well as facilitate technology theft.

The ASPI researcher noted that Confucius Institutes are examples of educational systems functioning as Beijing's propaganda machine. He added that many Chinese students and professors overseas have also taken part in the suppression of academic freedom in Australia, Canada, the U.K., and the U.S.

Joske urged the Australian government to stop issuing visas to corporations and media agencies that have close ties with the CCP, emphasizing that collaboration between democratic countries is essential to minimizing Beijing's growing influence. He also cautioned that although international governments have been aware of Beijing's propaganda fixtures, they have failed to notice other tactics openly employed by the CCP to push its agenda.