Cross-ideological acceptance of the illiberal narrative of the 2019 Hong Kong protests in Japan: aversion to protests as a key facilitator

Abstract

ABSTARCT: In its pursuit of greater global discursive power, China aims to counter criticisms by Western democracies by promoting illiberal narratives favourable to its regime on international social media platforms. Although research has explored the nature of these narratives and their propagators, little is known about which segments of the population in democratic countries are most receptive to them. This study examined China’s international propaganda by demonstrating that the narrative, that the 2019 Hong Kong protests were riots instigated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), was accepted and disseminated by both the left and right wings within Japan’s Twitter space. In addition, a survey experiment revealed that aversion to political protests in Japan led typically China-critical rightists to accept this narrative. Contrary to arguments that participatory propaganda aims to sow discord in democracies, this research suggests that such influence operations can garner support across ideological divides.