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29 J. Democracy 9 (2018)
What Is "Sharp Power"?

handle is hein.journals/jnlodmcy29 and id is 386 raw text is: WHAT IS SHARP POWER? Christopher Walker Christopher Walker is vice-president for studies and analysis at the Na- tional Endowment for Democracy. His essay The Authoritarian Threat: The Hijacking of 'Soft Power' appeared in the January 2016 issue of the Journal of Democracy. In April 2014, the international arm of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) announced a blockbuster deal with the Shanghai Media Group, a conglomerate backed by the People's Republic of China (PRC). Some observers welcomed the arrangement as a breakthrough that might give the ABC more access to Chinese audiences than any Western broadcaster had ever had before. The ABC's managing direc- tor, Mark Scott, hailed the agreement as opening a whole new world of television and online cooperation between Australia and China, and said that it would offer a truly unique window for all Australian media in their efforts to reach the People's Republic.1 On the surface, the agreement seemed to promise the media of at least one democracy a bridgehead within an autocratic system. Yet this was deceptive, for the accord contained a grave compromise of the journal- istic integrity of the taxpayer-funded Australian broadcaster: The ABC management had agreed to eliminate news and current-affairs content objectionable to Beijing from the respected ABC Mandarin-language service, both in Australia and overseas. Chinese authorities had induced the Australians to muzzle an important independent voice.2 This was not an isolated incident, but formed part of an alarming mix of ongoing influence operations that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is aiming at education, publishing, politics, and cultural life in Australia, with the goal of infiltrating and corroding its democracy.3 This influence effort is a work of many years that now seems to be coming to a turning point. What is taking place in Australia is all the more striking because this country of 25 million has long been recognized for its strong democratic performance. Its vibrant news media, independent civil society, and com- Journal of Democracy Volume 29, Number 3 July 2018 © 2018 National Endowment for Democracy and Johns Hopkins University Press