Praise from the International Community: How China Uses Foreign Experts to Legitimize Authoritarian Rule

Authoritarian governments cultivate an image of popular support to legitimize their rule. One such strategy is to create the impression that their rule and policies are widely supported by the international community. In this study, I systematically explore how the Chinese Party-state uses foreign experts in its propaganda to provide extra legitimacy to Chinese government policies. I collected data on non-Chinese-national intellectuals cited in 31 major news outlets in China, from which I compiled a list of 723 foreign experts who were cited to provide positive evaluations of China. The experts were from 67 different countries but showed a clear US-centric focus. I identified five major issues that they most frequently were cited about and summarized their opinions. The findings of this study show a mixed picture of China’s propaganda strategy: It is sophisticated but also stilted in conforming to existing power structures. It enriches our understanding of how an authoritarian regime like China’s cultivates its image and shapes public opinion. It also draws attention to the social and ethical implications of the possible distortion and fabrication of expert opinions in the propaganda process.