The U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy held a public meeting from 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 16, 2025, to present the 2024 Comprehensive Annual Report on Public Diplomacy & International Broadcasting and discuss the People’s Republic of China’s approach to public diplomacy and utilizing the information space to advance PRC objectives. The event was held in person at the U.S. Capital Visitor Center, with a virtual option.

A distinguished panel of experts reflected on China’s extensive use of strategic communications, purchasing and influencing media outlets throughout the world, particularly in Latin America, and its whole of government approach to reaching foreign publics. Panelists included Samantha Custer, Director ofAidData’s Policy Analysis Unit (PAU); Sarah Cook, Independent researcher and consultant, Author of the UnderReported China newsletter; and Igor Patrick, Journalist and author of Hearts & Minds, Votes & Contracts: China’s State Media in Latin America.

Custer focused on three critical pieces of context for understanding China's public diplomacy strategy, derived from AidData's groundbreaking work to track and quantify the PRC's public diplomacy activities abroad:

1. There is a strategic imperative that informs China’s public diplomacy, and that is the desire to win the narrative.
2. China has the financial means and the political will to employ a formidable public diplomacy and broadcasting toolkit to wage this narrative competition.
3. China seeks synergies between public diplomacy, information, influence, and economic cooperation as a force multiplier to amplify the reach and impact of its narratives. It does not view these as separate, isolated tools.

For more, see the meeting minutes.