Niva Yau
Censorship is the most prominent tactic deployed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to manage public memory. Yet suppression of information constitutes only a fraction of Beijing’s efforts to curate narratives for overseas audiences. The manipulation of information through the active insertion of positive messaging is also a prominent feature and can be effective when taking local conditions into account.
In the Kyrgyz Republic, the PRC has been successful in creating a positive perception of itself among the local population. This has influenced choices made by the whole population, from government officials at the highest level in Bishkek to families in rural villages across the country. In the early months of the pandemic lockdown in 2020, I chatted over the phone with 20 Chinese-speaking Kyrgyz youth. I asked them about their decision to learn Chinese and their reasons for pursuing studies in the PRC. Surprisingly, hardly any of them had initially wanted to learn the language. Instead, many did not have a choice but were pushed to do so by their families, who told them that language proficiency would unlock financial opportunities for them. Unfortunately, a diploma from a Chinese university is worth little in the Kyrgyz job market, except for roles as translators for PRC companies or as petty traders of products manufactured in the PRC (Diplomat, December 12, 2022).
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