The Chinese government appears to be taking a page from Russia’s playbook—by deploying disinformation to both distract and divide, it’s working to cover up its own shortcomings in responding to the initial outbreak of the coronavirus and attempting to damage U.S. credibility. Beijing’s more confrontational posture on COVID-19 and use of disinformation represents a clear departure from its past behavior.

On this episode, Alliance for Securing Democracy co-directors Laura Rosenberger and Zack Cooper dive into the new information battle over COVID-19, which narratives China is pushing and why, and what it could mean next for China’s global strategy. How do China’s tactics mirror Russia’s and what does the end game look like?

The Alliance for Securing Democracy recently launched a new iteration of its Hamilton 2.0 dashboard, which now track Chinese state media and social media messaging across its state-run social media accounts.