But what if the talk about anti-China bias is itself part of a strategy to muddy the discussion in Australia and undercut Australia’s ability to defend its sovereignty? What if the accusation of Australian racism is itself a weaponised narrative? Aiming at a vulnerability The Weaponised Narrative Initiative (WNI) at Arizona State University defines a weaponised narrative as a type of information attack that "undermines an opponent’s civilisation, identity, and will … by generating confusion, complexity, and political and social schisms [which] confounds response on the part of the defender". Such narratives differ from traditional propaganda in appealing to the particular vulnerabilities in a society and to people who naturally seek cohesive explanations for events. The issue of foreign interference legislation and the question of Chinese influence in Australia, for example, are complex and nuanced.

Racism as an explanation, by contrast, is simple, visceral and broadly understood. In a weaponised narrative attack, there will be a “spread of the overall theme” through “constant ‘new’ stories with just enough difference to grab eyeballs and headlines”, says Jonathan Herrmann, a senior intelligence and information ops analyst at the US-based MASY Group who also works with the WNI. These stories often require little more than a warning by an official or expert in a new context – such as an ambassador or prominent politician. “Some Australians may have guilt for prior … handling of race issues, and the Chinese could exploit that”, he said.

Macquarie University Chinese studies lecturer Kevin Carrico, who signed the letter supporting foreign interference laws, said he had seen a “rapid uptick in this kind of representation that Australia is a racist, or fundamentally anti-Chinese country”. “It feels to me like a distraction from actual issues,” he added. ‘Attacks and insults’ He pointed to nine different Chinese-language publications with articles carrying similarly themed stories on Australia and racism against Chinese people. The momentum of this type of coverage has been building since the middle of last year, after revelations of then senator Sam Dastyari’s relationship with Chinese businessman Huang Xiangmo.

Fairfax Media contacted China’s embassy for comment on the story and received no reply. The emphasis on “racism in Australia” comes as race itself has been increasingly emphasised by the Chinese Communist Party. Changes to the People’s Republic of China’s constitution earlier this year call for a "great renewal of the Chinese race", which required overseas Chinese communities to ensure their work contributes to the general restoration of Chinese greatness, according to analysis from The Jamestown Foundation. The works of Chinese President Xi Jinping translated and put on sale at a Sydney airport. Around the same time, China’s Ministry of Education in Beijing issued a statement warning Chinese students about threats and risks of studying in Australia, though the “unusually vague” warning raised more questions about the intention of the "anti-China Australia" narrative.

The effect could also be seen in a search of Australian media archives for the terms "racism" and "China". Excluding duplications, search terms yielded only four such stories from July 2017 to December 2017. From December 2017 to April 2018, the figure rose to 28. The race debate Of course Australia, like most open democracies, has a documented history of racism. The question is to what degree does anti-China bias explain Australia’s political action in cracking down on perceived foreign influence. University of Technology Sydney media professor Wanning Sun says the prejudice being discussed is real. “Many Chinese people in Australia have indeed experienced increased level of hostility not based on their values, beliefs and their origin but on what they look like,” she said. Sun, a signatory to the letter opposing foreign interference laws, believes the Chinese Communist Party’s claim of racism could “be a tit-for-tat in response” to real anti-Chinese hostility coming from Australia. Or it could be the party “simply echoing the sentiment of the Chinese community in Australia”.

The academics object to the new laws because, they say, they "would imperil scholarly contributions to public debate on matters of importance to our nation; and [because] the debate surrounding ‘Chinese influence’ has created an atmosphere ill-suited to the judicious balancing of national security interests with the protection of civil liberties”. One potential indicator of fear in the Chinese community about racism in Australia is the number of students from China enrolling to study. Prominent figures in the China-Australia relationship have warned about the fallout if Chinese students spurn the country over safety fears, a point made repeatedly to journalists. But recent foreign student enrolment numbers have increased. In the first three months of the year, enrolments by students from China were up 16 per cent over the previous corresponding period to 183,800, according to the Department of Education and Training. Chinese visitors in the main quadrangle at Sydney University earlier this year. Swinburne University professor John Fitzgerald says this suggests the frequency of safety warnings for Chinese students in Australia was indirectly targeted at the Australian government, to pressure it over the foreign interference issue, rather than as a real warning to Chinese parents.

"If it’s merely directed at parents, it’s unlikely to be effective," said Fitzgerald, who said many Chinese people are sceptical of Communist Party propaganda. "If it’s designed to scare Australian educators and the Australian government, then it really could be more effective." What China really believes China’s messaging on race in Australia is part of a series of broader global trends, according to Dr Braden Allenby of the WNI. “There’s a lot going on right now in the space of identity and culture,” he says.

“Both China and Russia have pretty strong narratives regarding identity that they reinforce … By contrast, most pluralistic democratic states, like Australia or the US, find their core narratives under attack from a number of different directions,” both external and internal. Allenby said it wasn’t clear to what extent China really believes that racism is a factor in Australia “and to what extent this is simply a well-orchestrated campaign designed to build Chinese soft power, and denigrate the soft power of Western states”. However, the narrative that China has been historically the “most humiliated nation” is well established. A recent report by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies concludes that it is “constantly reiterated in propaganda, media, and the arts". Author Clive Hamilton, whose book Silent Invasion on Chinese influence in Australia was dropped by Allen & Unwin. Credit:Rohan Thomson Clive Hamilton, whose book on the Chinese Communist Party’s influence efforts was dropped by publisher Allen & Unwin over fears of offending Beijing, said there was "no doubt" the Australia-is-racist message was increasing: "In recent months the claim that those critical of Beijing's interference in Australia are motivated by racism has become much more frequent.”

Previously it could be found in official Communist Party channels and from “patriotic” Chinese students, he said. "Now apologists for Beijing in the mainstream are using this insult in an attempt to close down discussion of CCP influence in Australia," he said. Soft power Countries have for years used public communication and diplomacy to influence each other on key issues; it’s part of the standard use of “soft power”. Likewise, weaponised narratives have been around for centuries. But the networked nature of the internet has given them new currency and power.

Messages can come through many different channels with little cost to their promoter, and in ways that disguise who their promoter is. Moreover, they can be crafted in ways that aid their diffusion through social media. Herrmann said the goal of a weaponised narrative isn’t to win people over to the Chinese Communist Party’s view on an issue but to “harden[s] the ideological position of those who agree, creating a set of people to block Australian actions to counter China”. An open letter signed by China experts in support of foreign interference legislation makes that point. “Racism is precisely the accusation that is encouraged and levelled by the CCP itself as it tries to silence the current discussion,” it says. “The CCP seeks to position itself as the protector of overseas Chinese and drive a wedge between Chinese communities and the rest of Australia.” An Amnesty International supporter dressed as the children's television show character Peppa Pig protests outside the Chinese Consulate in Sydney earlier this month. Credit:AAP