China trying to influence media, businesses in US, other places: Pentagon

China conducts influence operations, which target cultural institutions, media organisations, business, academic, and policy communities in the US, other countries, and international institutions, to achieve outcomes favourable to its strategic objectives, Pentagon said in its recent report on Wednesday.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seeks to condition domestic, foreign, and multilateral political establishments and public opinion to accept Beijing's narratives and remove obstaclespreventing the attainment of goals, stated the Pentagon 2021 Report on Military and Security Developments Involving the PRC.

CCP leaders probably consider open democracies, including the US, as more susceptible to influence operations than other types of governments, the report read.

The PLA has emphasised the development of its "Three Warfares" concept- comprised of psychological warfare, public opinion warfare, and legal warfare -- in its operational planning since at least 2003, US Defence Department said.

The PLA will also likely continue to develop its digital influence capabilities by incorporating advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the quality and deniability of its messaging.

The PRC has continued its aggressive, top-level push to master advanced technologies and become a global innovation superpower. The PRC seeks to dominate technologies associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution; this push directly supports the PLA's ambitious modernization efforts and its goal of becoming a "world-class" military capable of "intelligentised" warfare, according to the report.