As it asserts its influence across the globe, China poses a serious challenge to a rules-based, democratic order. How can the US and other leading democracies – possibly coordinated through a new ‘D-10′ alliance of democracies – pose a strategic response to the China challenge? the Atlantic Council asks.
Comprised of influential legislators from leading democracies across Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific, the Free World Commission – launched at the Munich Security Conference this past February – seeks to focus attention on challenges facing the free world, particularly those posed by China and Russia, and reaffirm the need to defend democracy and advance shared values and a rules-based order.
Following opening remarks from Mr. Carl Gershman, President, National Endowment for Democracy (NED); Mr. Frederick Kempe, President and CEO, Atlantic Council, and Amb. Boris Ruge, Vice-Chairman, Munich Security Conference, a hearing on China and prospects for developing a coordinated D-10 strategy for dealing with Beijing will be hosted by UK MP Tom Tugendhat, US Senator James Risch, EU MEP Kati Piri, Australian MP Andrew Hastie and other legislators from leading democracies.
Many believe that internet freedom is key to exposing people across China to the government’s abysmal human rights abuses and taboo concepts like freedom and democracy, notes Yaqiu Wang, a China researcher at Human Rights Watch. But a free internet is not enough. Misinformation is happening in every language in all corners of the internet, but the Chinese-language information environment outside of China is further distorted by forces that impede a free flow of information and peaceful discourse back home, Wang writes for the Lowy Institute’s Interpreter:
National Endowment for Democracy
International news media and human rights organisations should publish more in the Chinese language….To gain an audience, more should be written and produced directly in Chinese with a mainland Chinese audience in mind. Governments and private philanthropies should also invest in independent, professional Chinese-language journalism. In recent years, news websites such as Initium and community forums such as Matters, albeit banned in China, have expanded the space for Chinese-language speakers to learn about and discuss human rights issues inside China and around the world.
The ACUS event – on Wednesday, December 9, 2020 from 8:30 – 9:45 am EST – will be entirely virtual, and participants will receive a link to participate via Zoom upon submitting their RSVP. Make your voice heard on Twitter using the hashtag #FWC2020.
Commission Members and Participants:
- Rep. Mike Gallagher, Representative, Member of the House Armed Services Committee, United States
- MP Andrew Hastie, Member of Parliament, Chairman of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence, Australia
- Rep. Tom Malinowski, Representative, Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, United States
- MEP Kati Piri, Member of Parliament, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, European Parliament
- MP Lia Quartapelle Procopio, Member of the Chamber of Deputies, Secretary of the House Committee on Foreign and Community Affairs, Italy
- Sen. James Risch, Senator, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, United States
- MP Sven Spengemann, Member of Parliament, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Canada
- MP Tom Tugendhat, Member of Parliament, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, United Kingdom
What the @ThinkDemocracy calls ‘sharp power’ examined here…. https://t.co/uBe7yDyLeQ
— Democracy Digest (@demdigest) December 8, 2020
