50 Cent Army? What a Bargain! China and its Disinformation Campaigns Cybersecurity Advisors Network

Join James Briscoe and John Salomon in the latest episode of the State of (Cyber)War podcast as they discuss the People's Republic of China and some of its disinformation capabilities.
This informal conversation includes discussion about Chinese foreign election interference, domestic social media manipulation, Taiwan, China's foreign political and economic interests and more.  
John Salomon - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnsalomon/
James Briscoe - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimbriscoe/
02:10 Xi Jinping's new year's address, via CCTV:  https://youtu.be/TEd3CtcL1pU?si=MAiKGP-SPjm8cjCe
02:50 Xi Zhongxun, Chinese revolutionary leader:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Zhongxun
04:00 Taiwanese elections 2024:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Taiwanese_general_election
04:08 Kuomintang:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuomintang
04:27 Democratic Progressive Party:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Progressive_Party
05:45 1992 Consensus:  https://thediplomat.com/2022/07/the-1992-consensus-why-it-worked-and-why-it-fell-apart/
07:15 These are the Valemax ore carriers:  https://vale.com/w/fleet-of-ships-serving-vale-receives-first-ore-carrier-in-the-world-equipped-with-rotor-sails
09:12 50 Cent Party:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_Cent_Party
09:52 Nine-dotted line:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine-dash_line
10:04 Belt and Road Initiative:  https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-massive-belt-and-road-initiative
13:00 https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSIN277923/
13:43 NY Times article on the topic:  https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/11/us/politics/china-disinformation-ai.html
14:15 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Chinese_balloon_incident
14:42 A lot of this is obviously speculation.  https://www.wired.com/story/east-palestine-ohio-train-derailment-tiktok/
16:42 Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank:  https://www.aiib.org/en/index.html
19:35 An article about PRC influence on the Taiwanese elections:  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/09/taiwan-presidential-election-china-influence
20:32 https://www.npr.org/2023/11/30/1215898523/meta-warns-china-online-social-media-influence-operations-facebook-elections
21:05 A US State Department briefing on this topic:  https://www.state.gov/briefings-foreign-press-centers/how-the-prc-amplifies-russian-disinformation
24:15 United Front Work Department:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Front_Work_Department
26:25 Some points about interference in US elections:  https://gdil.org/russian-and-chinese-influence-actors-and-operations-against-the-american-electorate/
29:34 Hundred Years of Humiliation:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_of_humiliation
30:30 The Avoidable War, by Kevin Rudd:  https://www.avoidablewar.com/
32:23 Natto Thoughts:  https://nattothoughts.substack.com/
32:26 The disinformation handbook (part I):  https://nattothoughts.substack.com/p/disinformation-handbook-a-concise
A few links on the topic worth reading:
Chinese information operations against Taiwan:
https://therecord.media/taiwan-elections-china-interference
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/09/taiwan-presidential-election-china-influence
https://thediplomat.com/2024/01/beijing-tries-to-capitalize-on-taiwans-controversial-rocket-alert/
https://thediplomat.com/2024/01/rip-off-the-blindfold-let-taiwanese-civil-society-learn-from-ukraine/
https://fpri.org/article/2023/12/whats-at-stake-in-upcoming-taiwan-election/
General Chinese disinfo operations:
https://www.rand.org/pubs/commentary/2023/10/dismantling-the-disinformation-business-of-chinese.html
https://www.defenceconnect.com.au/joint-capabilities/13356-report-massive-chinese-disinformation-campaign-uncovered-on-youtube
https://medium.com/doublethinklab/propaganda-analysis-how-different-actors-in-chinas-information-ecosystem-portray-the-ukraine-war-ac82713c2f68
https://www.npr.org/2023/11/30/1215898523/meta-warns-china-online-social-media-influence-ope