Ever since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, with its revelations about Russian meddling, European officials have been on the lookout for similar attacks. But Europeans aren't the only ones paying attention. So, too, are China's leaders, who are considering what they might learn from the Kremlin's successes.
For Chinese President Xi Jinping, maintaining domestic stability is a top priority, a point underscored by China's annual budget for internal security. At well over $100 billion, the official number is low. Like defense outlays, the real number is much higher, owing to hidden spending, including on research and development.
For example, China is exploring how artificial intelligence and big data can be used to monitor everything from social media to credit-card spending, and it plans to assign all citizens a social-reliability rating to weed out potential troublemakers. The regime's Orwellian strategy is focused squarely on social media and controlling not just what is said, but also how information flows into and around the country.
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