M’sian-born CEO paid more than tech titans

Leading the pack: Tan beats Cook, Musk and Zuckerberg in the analysis by the WSJ. — Photo from Broadcom Inc

Tan tops list of highest paid executives in the US last year 

PETALING JAYA: The highest-paid chief executive officer in the United States is neither Apple’s Tim Cook nor Tesla’s Elon Musk, but Malaysian-born businessman Tan Hock Eng.

Tan, 71, also surpassed Meta Platforms’ Mark Zuckerberg by earning US$162mil (about RM760mil) in compensation last year, according to South China Morning Post, which quoted an analysis by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) this week.

“Tan, who is a US citizen, is the CEO of semiconductor company Broadcom Inc and has been topping the pay charts since 2006, receiving US$103mil in 2017,” said WSJ.

However, the pay package comes with several conditions, including the company’s stock hitting a certain level by next year. Tan must also remain as CEO for an additional five years, and he will not receive any more equity or cash bonuses during that period.

The semiconductor company’s shares rose 106% over the past 12 months, bringing its total market capitalisation to US$655bil (RM3 trillion).

Tan is also a board member of Meta Platforms, the US-based company that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp among others.

Tan, who hails from Penang, completed his undergraduate studies in mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He also has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the National University of Singapore. He then earned a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University. After returning to Malaysia, he was involved with Hume Industries between 1983 and 1988.

He then moved to Singapore as managing director of venture capital firm Pacven Investment.

He reportedly relocated back to the United States in 1992 and assumed the role of vice-president of finance for PC maker Commodore International.

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Loans, not grants to strengthen bumiputra economy

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‘Tougher’ approach: Rafizi said the pivot to providing credit instead would ensure applications from those who are serious about building a business. — Bernama

CYBERJAYA: In a break from past practices, the unity government is moving away from giving grants to bumiputra entrepreneurs. Instead, it will assist them with loans as part of its agenda to strengthen the community’s economy.

By getting entrepreneurs to pay back what they borrow, the government hopes to create a steady supply of funds that could benefit more such businessmen, said Rafizi Ramli.

Under the initiative, the government also hopes to build a sustainable business ecosystem producing the right kind of professionals and businesses that will see micro and small enterprises scaled up to create value, the Economy Minister told reporters after an event here yesterday featuring three of the ministry’s agencies tasked with bumiputra empowerment.

The agencies – Teraju, Ekuiti Nasional Berhad (Ekuinas) and Yayasan Peneraju (Peneraju) – have been realigned to focus their resources and energies on creating the bumiputra business ecosystem envisioned by the ministry.Rafizi emphasised that the “tougher” approach of building an ecosystem and assisting businesses with credit instead of grants, would be more effective at creating successful bumiputra firms.

“One of the differences (from the past) is focus. For instance, in the past, Teraju gave out grants to everyone, large or small. They did not focus on building an ecosystem,” Rafizi said.

“Peneraju also gave scholarships to every bumiputra who wanted to be professional, but it was up to them to decide what kind of professional they wanted to be.”

This approach, he said, “did not connect the dots” between the professional talent being nurtured and the grants being given out to entrepreneurs.

As part of its own realignment, Peneraju, which was previously tasked with creating bumiputra professionals such as chartered accountants and chartered financial analysts, will now focus on nurturing business leaders.

Peneraju chief executive officer Ibrahim Sani said that instead of just creating more professionals to join the workforce, the foundation’s new accelerator programme will train talent to start venture capital funds.

“This will hopefully create a cycle, and bumiputra entrepreneurs need people to invest in their companies,” he said during the event.

Similarly, Ekuinas, which previously concentrated on assisting large bumiputra companies to become listed on the stock market, will now offer loans and credit to mid-size businesses to enable them to scale up.

Ekuinas chief executive officer Datuk Syed Yasir Arafat Abd Kadir said this was because medium and small firms often had trouble getting loans from banks, which then hobbled their ability to expand.

On the strategy of providing credit instead of grants, Rafizi said this would ensure that only those who are serious about building a business would apply for the funds.

“If you give out a grant of RM500,000 to someone and, at the end of two years, he says the business flopped, that money would be wasted. It could’ve gone to so many other people.

“We want people who want to really do business because they have to repay what they borrowed. They will only take money if they are confident they can pay it back.

“We don’t want our funds to just go to 500 people; we want them to go to thousands, but in order to do that, we have to roll the money.”

Rafizi stated that this strategy would generate additional funds and opportunities for bumiputra firms to expand, enabling them to list on the stock market and achieve sustainability.

“We must work on the assets and the funds. It is controversial, but my hope is that people will know that a tougher approach is what is needed for bumiputra entrepreneurs to accelerate their competitiveness.”

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No grants 'not the right way'

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/05/22/no-grants-not-the-right-way

PETALING JAYA: Many bumiputra entrepreneurs have no problems accepting the government’s new approach of giving them loans instead of grants to grow their businesses.

However, the “harder approach” of doing away with grants under the bumiputra development agenda could result in a backlash from the community, they say.

“I think that this is not quite the right way of doing it,” said Malay Economic Action Council (MTEM) senior fellow Ahmad Yazid Othman.

“It must be understood that grants are given to those who may not be able to support themselves. I don’t think it would be welcomed by the community and may not have the right impact,” he said.

However, he said the council supported the announcements by Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli on the new approach.

Although the new approach could prevent abuses, Ahmad said the situation for bumiputra enterprises may not improve if the policy is ill-implemented.

On Monday, Rafizi announced that the unity government was moving away from giving grants to bumiputra entrepreneurs but would instead assist them with loans as part of its agenda to strengthen the community’s economy.

The minister said that by getting entrepreneurs to pay back what they borrow, the government hopes to create a steady supply of funds that could benefit more such businessmen.

Three agencies – Teraju, Ekuiti Nasional Berhad (Ekuinas) and Yayasan Peneraju (Peneraju) – will realign to focus their resources and energies on creating the bumiputra business ecosystem envisioned by the ministry.

Ahmad, who is also Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia secretary-general, lauded the move by Teraju to widen the scope of those in the eco-system that contribute towards the success of the new approach.

He also said the relevant ministries must not work in silos but should collaborate to ensure the success of programmes.

Malay Businessmen and Industrialists Association of Malaysia (Perdasama) president Mohd Azamanizam Baharon also said the grant scheme should be maintained but given out to bumiputra companies based on merit and high level of competency.

Grants via Teraju should still be made available, he said, particularly for bumiputra companies involved in the renewable energy sector. However, he too added that Perdasama agreed that bumiputra businesses should not rely solely on government grants or aid.

Planned e-invoicing will be troublesome

KUALA LUMPUR: The planned introduction of e-invoicing will be both redundant and cause more trouble than it is worth, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

The MCA president said the government’s push to prevent tax evasion could be easily solved by the reintroduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rather than e-invoicing.

“If we look at GST previously, we didn’t need to mandate this (invoicing) as it was already an automatic mandatory component of GST for those that wanted to get their tax refunds.

“This made it a two-in-one solution as the government didn’t need to make any sort of invoicing compulsory as businesses were forced to produce clear records to claim tax refunds,” he said in a video on his Facebook page yesterday. 

Dr Wee, who is the Ayer Hitam MP, also noted how the frequently changing guidelines – currently at version 2.1 – by the Inland Revenue Board were causing unnecessary confusion.

“This is already the sixth version and every few days it changes.

“How is anyone expected to keep up with this constant development, especially as it’s a complete system transition

“I understand there is also no significant allocation for any workshops or campaigns to educate businesses on how to transition.

“This is a serious issue, as they need to know the transition process in order to be able to comply with it,” he said, adding that the new system could disproportionately impact small businesses negatively.

“This is because compliant businesses will need to digitalise all their business transactions through e-invoices that smaller businesses don’t need to provide.“As such, larger businesses may be discouraged or even indirectly banned from engaging with smaller businesses due to the need for e-invoices that smaller businesses cannot provide.

“This effectively forces smaller businesses to have to implement e-invoicing if they want to engage with bigger businesses,” he said.

Dr Wee noted that the requirement for businesses to fill out 55 data fields for e-invoicing, which carries a penalty of up to RM20,000 for each error, worsens the situation. This exposes businesses to additional financial strains, such as paying fines or hiring administrative or accounting professionals to complete the data.

“How many people understand what a credit note and a debit note are? The big businesses may be fine, but the small ones will have to pay experts to help them solve this,” he said, adding that security and tax data privacy concerns must also be addressed ahead of the new digital system’s implementation.

“Having all 55 data fields from various big businesses collected and stored in a central database makes it a prime target for hackers.

“We still don’t know what cybersecurity measures they may have to defend the system,” he said.

The e-invoicing system will be rolled out gradually starting on Aug 1, and eventually be extended to all taxpayers by July 1, 2025.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has said the e-invoicing system will be applied first to taxpayers who earn an annual income exceeding RM100mil.

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e invoicing Malaysia solution - Malaysia IRBM e-invoicing

Related:

Microenterprises unprepared for e-invoicing, says Wee

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/05/21/microenterprises-unprepared-for-e-invoicing-says-wee

Mandatory e-invoice countdown clock starts next week

Give us time to adjust, urge small businesses

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KUALA LUMPUR: The planned introduction of e-invoicing will be both redundant and cause more trouble than it is worth, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

The MCA president said the government’s push to prevent tax evasion could be easily solved by the reintroduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rather than e-invoicing.

“If we look at GST previously, we didn’t need to mandate this (invoicing) as it was already an automatic mandatory component of GST for those that wanted to get their tax refunds.

“This made it a two-in-one solution as the government didn’t need to make any sort of invoicing compulsory as businesses were forced to produce clear records to claim tax refunds,” he said in a video on his Facebook page yesterday. 

Dr Wee, who is the Ayer Hitam MP, also noted how the frequently changing guidelines – currently at version 2.1 – by the Inland Revenue Board were causing unnecessary confusion.

“This is already the sixth version and every few days it changes.

“How is anyone expected to keep up with this constant development, especially as it’s a complete system transition

“I understand there is also no significant allocation for any workshops or campaigns to educate businesses on how to transition.

“This is a serious issue, as they need to know the transition process in order to be able to comply with it,” he said, adding that the new system could disproportionately impact small businesses negatively.

“This is because compliant businesses will need to digitalise all their business transactions through e-invoices that smaller businesses don’t need to provide.“As such, larger businesses may be discouraged or even indirectly banned from engaging with smaller businesses due to the need for e-invoices that smaller businesses cannot provide.

“This effectively forces smaller businesses to have to implement e-invoicing if they want to engage with bigger businesses,” he said.

Dr Wee noted that the requirement for businesses to fill out 55 data fields for e-invoicing, which carries a penalty of up to RM20,000 for each error, worsens the situation. This exposes businesses to additional financial strains, such as paying fines or hiring administrative or accounting professionals to complete the data.

“How many people understand what a credit note and a debit note are? The big businesses may be fine, but the small ones will have to pay experts to help them solve this,” he said, adding that security and tax data privacy concerns must also be addressed ahead of the new digital system’s implementation.

“Having all 55 data fields from various big businesses collected and stored in a central database makes it a prime target for hackers.

“We still don’t know what cybersecurity measures they may have to defend the system,” he said.

The e-invoicing system will be rolled out gradually starting on Aug 1, and eventually be extended to all taxpayers by July 1, 2025.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has said the e-invoicing system will be applied first to taxpayers who earn an annual income exceeding RM100mil.

Source link 

e invoicing Malaysia solution - Malaysia IRBM e-invoicing

Related:

Microenterprises unprepared for e-invoicing, says Wee

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/05/21/microenterprises-unprepared-for-e-invoicing-says-wee

Business convention eyes at least Rm2bil

 
WCEC expected to attract 4,500 entrepreneurs while benefiting the local economy this Sept

PETALING JAYA: The 17th World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention (WCEC), scheduled for Sept 9 to 11 this year is expected to generate at least Rm2bil in business opportunities, coupled with spillover effects benefiting the local economy.

The convention is regarded as the most anticipated business event of the year due to its global reach, attracting 4,500 delegates from Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North and South America, Oceania and Africa to the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre for impactful business networking and matching, and collaboration opportunities.

To ensure that delegates receive high quality and a more meaningful conference, there will also be a business matching session as well as an exhibition for companies to set up booths.

Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) treasurer Datuk Koong Lin Loong believes that the WCEC will generate billions of ringgit in business opportunities. He highlights the significant economic potential of the event. 

ACCCIM reps:Koong (left) and Teoh

“A successful match may lead to a conservative increase in business volume, ranging from hundreds of thousands of ringgit to millions; thus, the cumulative potential is substantial.

“If a business owner decides to match with more than one company for further expansion of market footprint, supply chain or even increase export of products and services, the total impact will be more.

“This scenario underscores the immense potential for foreign direct investment that a convention of this scale can bring about,” he said.

The 17th WCEC marks the second time ACCCIM will be organising this event, with their first being the 7th convention in 2003.

Koong, who leads the business matching session, shared that they have been organising businessmatching sessions for their ACCCIM members and the results were outstanding.

“This will also help Malaysian companies, especially our small and medium enterprises (SMES), to connect with international counterparts, thereby fostering significant economic growth and investment opportunities.”

Additionally, with delegates coming over from around the world, the convention also acts as a significant driver of local tourism, Koong says.

“Delegates and their family members can explore our city’s cultural and recreational offerings. The increase in foot traffic boosts demand for local businesses, ranging from hotels and restaurants to cultural sites and retail shops.”

In the spirit of tourism and economic pursuits, ACCCIM will also be bringing interested delegates to visit other states in Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak, right after the convention.

“We are currently working with the state governments to ensure that these delegates learn about the respective state’s unique attractions, opportunities and economic landscape.

“This strategic exposure could lead to prosperous business ventures, significantly boosting the likelihood of future investments and partnerships with local businesses.”

Addressing fundamental shifts

The theme for the three-day convention, ‘Reimagineering the Future’, reflects a pivotal moment for business leaders and entrepreneurs worldwide.

Recognising the rapid transformations in the global economy, ACCCIM’S national council member Teoh Kok Lin says there is an imperative need to fundamentally reimagine the trajectories that businesses will pursue in the next 20 to 30 years.

Thus, he emphasises the importance of engineering innovative solutions that not only drive prosperity but also ensure that it is inclusive and sustainable.

Teoh, who oversees the forums and conferences during the convention, says participants will engage in in-depth discussions that will dissect and explore four megatrends: structural shifts in global political, economic and financial order; diversity, sustainable and inclusion; climate change, environmental, social and governance (ESG) and green revolution; and technology revolution and disruptive technology.

“Over the past decade, significant changes in the global landscape, including shifts in geopolitics, the impact of Covid-19 on supply chains and the evolution from globalisation to de-globalisation and regionalisation, have underscored new challenges and opportunities.

“It is essential for the WCEC to address these developments, helping business leaders navigate the complexities of today’s economic environment and explore strategic responses to these global trends,” he said.

Delegates can expect to have fruitful sessions, as key speakers leading the discussions are experts in their own field.

They include Ping An Group chief scientist Dr Xiao Jing, Blue Chip Venture Capital Sdn Bhd founder and chairman Datuk Lai Pin Yong, economist Tan Sri Andrew Sheng, QL Resources Bhd executive chairman Dr Chia Song Kun, Phison Electronics Corp chief executive officer Datuk Pua Kheinseng and Asia School of Business chief executive officer, president and dean Prof Sanjay Sarma.

The convention will also feature over 100 booths by both local and international businesses that will showcase their products and services. This serves as a stage for exhibitors, especially the local SMES, to expand their market reach, explore cross-border opportunities, and embed their brand into the international market landscape.

17th WCEC to reimagine the future of business landscape

High-profile gathering: (From left) ACCCIM vice-president Datuk Liew Chee Ming, Star Media Group chief executive officer Chan Seng Fatt, ACCCIM vice-president Datuk Looi Hei Tyng, ACCCIM life honorary president Datuk Lim Kok Cheong, Media Chinese International Limited group editor-in-chief (Malaysia) Kuik Cheng Kang, Low, Star Media Group advisor and Bernama chairman Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai, Yuwang Group executive chairman Tan Sri See Hong Cheen, ACCCIM deputy president Datuk Ng Yih Pyng, and 8TV chief operating officer Kevin Foo posing for a picture during the media briefing dinner at a hotel in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. — MUHAMAD SHAHRIL ROSLI/The Star

PETALING JAYA: At least 1,500 local business leaders and 3,000 overseas delegates will attend the 17th World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention (WCEC), which will be organised by The Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM).

The event which will take place from Sept 9 to 11 this year at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre will see delegates from Asia, Europe, Middle East, North and South America, Oceania and Africa attending the convention.

The convention will revolve around the theme “Reimagineering the Future”, and will address ongoing global trends and issues including structural shifts in global political, economic and financial order, disruptive technology, diversity and inclusion, and climate change. 

The goal is to equip participants with deeper insights and understanding into the future direction of the global environment, allowing them to plan ahead and ensure sustainability in their business operations.

The WCEC will also feature business matching sessions for business leaders and experts to network and seek opportunities to partner and collaborate.

“This convention also provides the opportunity to showcase Malaysia’s boundless business opportunities and its alluring status as Asia’s multi-diversity wonderland, particularly as we gear up for the Visit Malaysia Year 2026,” said ACCCIM president Tan Sri Low Kian Chuan at a media briefing session held at a hotel here.

Among those who attended the briefing were ACCCIM members, business partners and senior media representatives.

The convention is a good platform for business leaders, professionals and policy makers to share ideas and gain insights and create connections.

“My team and I will ensure a world-class enlightening and engaging convention, considering our proven track record of hosting the 7th WCEC in 2003,” said Low who is also the organising chairman of the 17th WCEC.

“Together, let us reimagine the future of business landscape and forge enduring connections and collaborations, making our country and the world a better place of doing business,” added Low.

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The ‘Chinese killed Jesus Christ’ post is a farce, but why it was allowed to spread on X is worth a closer look, "Cognitive Warfare"

Photo: VCG

Plunge into madness

Editor's Note:

"Cognitive Warfare" has become a new form of confrontation between states, and a new security threat. With new technological means, it sets agendas and spreads disinformation, to change people's perceptions and thus alter their self-identity. Launching cognitive warfare against China is an important means for Western anti-China forces to attack and discredit the country. 

Some politicians and media outlets have publicly smeared China's image by propagating false narratives in an attempt to incite and provoke dissatisfaction with China among people in certain countries. These means all serve the US strategy to contain China's rise and maintain its hegemony. The Global Times is publishing a series of articles to reveal the intrigues of the US-led West's China-targeted cognitive warfare, and expose its lies and vicious intentions. 

In the 14th installment in the series, the Global Times looks into how the US government and major social media platforms connive to spread anti-China slander online, as a non-obvious cognitive warfare trick that incites hostile sentiment toward China among ordinary US people.

People walk on a street in New York City, the US. Photo： VCG

Seeing unfriendly content toward China on today's US social media platforms is not uncommon, although some of them have reached the level of laughable absurdity. Dom Lucre, a US political commentator, recently wrote a controversial post on X (formally known as Twitter), in which he inexplicably claimed that the "Chinese killed Jesus Christ." This inexplicable post soon went viral online. Many X users seemed to have followed suit by fabricating rumors about "the Chinese," creating a wave of disinformation attacking Chinese people in recent days.

How did this campaign come about? Was it just the innocent dark humor of some individuals online, or a branch of the US' growing cognitive warfare against China to further deepen misunderstanding and hostility among Americans toward Chinese people? What roles do the US government and social media platforms play in such seemingly unofficially-initiated disinformation campaigns?

Dark humor?

"The Chinese killed Jesus Christ. This isn't a conspiracy. This isn't racist. This is history." The ridiculous post by Lucre on March 16 has since garnered over 3.5 million views and 1,500 forwards, much more than his other daily posts.

This was not the only ridiculous Chinese-themed post by Lucre that month. Earlier on March 9, he posted that "The Chinese control Hollywood. That's why every show they own can make fun of Jesus Christ and describe it as comedy…The Chinese [have] weaponized the American media against Christians." 

"China really controls the world," "China (is) allowed to legally mingle [sic] in American elections," "FBI caught five Chinese men dancing during 9/11"… Within a week, Lucre had posted several bizarre accusations against China and Chinese people, triggering widespread discussions on X.

So what was the motive behind it?

Some users commented that they guessed the posts were a form of "dark humor" satire by Lucre to "mock" the bans of US social media platforms like X on negative content about Jews as it appears Lucre had simply replaced the word "Jews" with "Chinese" in his post. Sharing personal experiences of Jew-related posts being deleted, they suggested that the platforms usually block or restrict posts attacking certain groups of people like Jews or Muslims, but seemingly allow similar content when directed at Chinese people, if not encourage them.

Superficially, Lucre's posts were a performance-art-like satire to highlight how different groups are treated on US social media platforms, and Chinese people unfortunately became a tool and the victims of such "satire."

However, as an increasing number of X users followed suit to fabricate and spread rumors defaming Chinese people, some anti-China forces thus seized on the opportunity to further muddy the waters with fake evidence to "support" the ridiculous claims. This "dark humor" farce has resulted in the inundation of disinformation that demonizes Chinese people.

There were more than 2,000 X posts containing the keywords "Chinese killed Jesus" within a week after Lucre's original post on March 16, showed online media monitoring company Meltwater. Instead of attaching so-called "background information" to Lucre's related posts, X seemed to have not blocked or clarified any of the forwarded posts, allowing them to keep going viral and mislead the public.

Obviously, the disinformation was spread under X's inaction and connivance, said Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University. "X can hardly escape the blame," he told the Global Times.

Long-term connivance

US social media platforms have long connived with and acquiesced to anti-China misinformation, "a very vicious act" that is backed or promoted by some politicians and government agencies in the US, Li said.

By indulging the false accusations against China online and deliberately elevating a few statements - no matter how absurd they are - to ignite a sort of public hostility toward China and its people, these platforms and politicians attempt to foment unfriendly consensus against Chinese people at the social level, so as to set off an anti-China sentiment among the general US public, noted Li.

The "Chinese virus" smear during the COVID-19 pandemic was a typical cognitive campaign that started on social media and was fueled by the US government and politicians. Meltwater data showed that the terms "Chinese virus" first appeared on social media platforms and in some news coverage around early January 2020, and surged in late March, soon after former US president Donald Trump used similar labels in his X posts

The US government was obviously happy to see these insulting words flooding social media, and actively joined the COVID-19 cognitive campaign that smeared China and obfuscated the facts. 

The so-called "Great Translation Movement" in early 2022, a malicious smear campaign against China on Russia-Ukraine issues on X, was also a vivid instance in which US social media platforms connived to spread rumors and hateful, discriminatory remarks against Chinese people. By translating cherry-picked, niche, and radical content from the Chinese internet into multiple languages, and spreading said translations on overseas social media platforms, participants of the "movement" attempted to portray Chinese people as an arrogant, populist, and cruel group, which maliciously misled the public. 

Disappointingly, during this "movement," X kept turning a blind eye to the rumors and attacks against Chinese people.

Some politicians are currently trying to take it a step further. On April 11, some members of the US House and Senate introduced the Open Translation Center Act, a bill to establish a federally funded research center that translates documents from countries like China and Russia, so as to "better understand threats" from these countries, they claimed.

One of the main initiators, Mike Gallagher, is infamous for his extreme anti-China attitude. 

Li analyzed that this bill is not to promote mutual understanding between China and the US, but to aggravate the US people's unfriendly attitude toward China. "The 'Open Translation Center' and the 'Great Translation Movement' are issues in two different fields, but they are similar in nature," he told the Global Times.

Sadly, negative content forms the majority of Chinese-related posts found on US social media platforms, with the continued connivance of the platforms and the US government. Meltwater showed that so far this year, among the posts containing "Chinese" on some major platforms including X and Facebook that were released in the US, negative, neutral, and positive sentiment stood at 26.8, 59.3, and 13.8 percent respectively.

A main battlefield

The US' cognitive warfare against China is evolving from simply distorting information about China to falsifying knowledge about China - in other words, turning misinformation to "common sense" that attempts to change people's basic knowledge and understanding of China, said Dong Guanpeng, dean of the National Institute of Public Relations and Strategic Communication, Communication University of China.

Falsifying knowledge about China is much nastier than fabricating misinformation, Dong noted. "It may mislead global audiences, particularly the young ones, during their formation of perceptions and judgments about China," he told the Global Times.

Lucre's "dark humor" posts have, to some extent, misled a few X users, who forwarded their complaints about the "misdeeds" of Chinese people that Lucre mentioned. Some Chinese observers worry that, for the less knowledgeable young netizens who are unaware of such "ironic narration," these ridiculous posts may eventually become a part of their initial cognition of China and its people.

Worse still, apart from indulging in the spread of rumors, US politicians and social media platforms have also created fake accounts to proactively make up and spread content discrediting China, and even banned pro-China posts and blocked pro-China accounts.

Earlier in 2019, during the riots in Hong Kong, many users criticized Facebook and X for suppressing their posts that support the central Chinese government.  According to CNN's report, X blocked more than 900 accounts in that same period, and was followed by Facebook. These accounts were closed for posting content "undermining" the rioters in Hong Kong. 

It is no wonder that social media has become a main battlefield for the US' cognitive warfare against China, said Li.

And the cognitive warfare has shaped or influenced US people's view of China to a certain extent. A Gallup poll released in March showed that 41 percent of Americans name China as the US' greatest enemy today, making it the top perceived US adversary for the fourth straight year. 

Yet the "greatest enemy" was created by the US itself with its meaningless hostility and panic.

 "The US has since (Huawei) spiraled into a full-blown outbreak of Sinophobia - a strong word that I don't use lightly," Stephen S. Roach, a faculty member at Yale University and former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, wrote in his article "American Sinophobia" published in March.

 "...Excessive fear of China conveniently masks many of America's own self-inflicted problems," Roach wrote. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," he quoted a line from US president Franklin Roosevelt's 1933 inaugural address, concluding that "amid today's Sinophobic frenzy, that message is well worth remembering."

Photo: Global Times

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