China’s Digital Authoritarianism Goes Global

Abstract

The final element of China’s digital authoritarianism to be explored in this study concerns the CCP’s strategy of developing and diffusing Chinese technical standards and technologies. This strategy is intended to facilitate the next stage of China’s economic transformation and enhance its geopolitical standing and military power. China is explicit in its desire to become a world technology leader and cyberpower over the coming decades, which is reflected in national strategies such as Made in China 2025, China Standards 2035, and Dual Circulation, and is being implemented abroad through initiatives such as the Digital Silk Road (DSR). This chapter addresses China’s dissatisfaction with existing global internet governance (GIG) arrangements, along with efforts to influence the structure and norms of internet governance by increasing its leadership roles and influence in GIG institutions, and also discusses the ways in which Chinese technical standards, technologies, and norms are going globa