中国、「対外情報操作」に年間数十億ドル　米報告書が警告

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】米国務省は２８日、中国が年間数十億ドルを費やして世界中に偽情報を広めていると報告書で指摘した。世界の言論の自由を「急激に収縮」させる恐れがあると警告している。（写真は資料写真）
　米国務省傘下のグローバル・エンゲージメント・センターが公表した報告書は、「（中国による）地球規模の情報操作は、パブリックディプロマシー（広報文化外交）の問題にとどまらず、世界の情報空間の完全性に対する挑戦でもある」と指摘。
　「野放しにすれば、中国が輸出する技術、取り込まれた地方自治体、中国による直接的な報復に対する恐怖といったものが、世界の表現の自由を急激に収縮させる未来を招きかねない」と警鐘を鳴らした。
　報告書によると、中国はプロパガンダ、偽情報、検閲などを通じた「対外情報操作」に年間数十億ドルを費やしている。
　また、中国や中国共産党に関する肯定的なニュースを広める一方、台湾や人権、低迷する国内経済といった物議を醸す問題については、中国の主張にそぐわない重要情報を隠している。
　中国の情報操作の手法には「デジタル権威主義」の推進、国際組織の悪用、中国語メディアの統制などが含まれる。
　中国はまた、外国メディアの株式を取得し、ネット上のインフルエンサーを後援し、外国の政治エリートや記者を取り込もうとしている。
　例えば、アフリカ東部で対価を支払っているにもかかわらずその事実を隠して現地紙に「好意的な報道」をさせたり、「パキスタンのメディアの実質的に支配」しようとしたりしたと報告書は主張している。
　中国政府はこうした取り組みを通じて「世界の情報環境を再構築」しかねないという。
　さらに、中国は通信アプリの微信（ウィーチャット）を活用して「民主主義国に在住する中国語話者」を標的に偽情報を流布したり、動画投稿アプリ「ティックトック」を運営する中国ＩＴ大手バイトダンス（字節跳動）に「中国政府を批判する可能性のあるユーザーのプラットフォーム使用を阻止」させたりしている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/09/29-17:01）

The US government began Thursday to inform workers of an impending shutdown that could see millions of federal employees and military personnel temporarily sent home or working without pay, unless Congress reaches a last-ditch deal.
Without an agreement, funding for much of the federal government will expire at midnight on Saturday (0400 GMT Sunday), threatening disruptions to everything from air travel to benefit payments, and ? if the shutdown endures ? dealing a further blow to the precarious US economy.
The stand-off has been triggered by a small group of hardline Republicans who have pushed back against short-term funding deals while Congress tries to resolve a broader deadlock over calls for deep spending cuts.
Some federal employees have already been informed of preparations for a lapse, according to a notice seen by AFP.
A note to staff at the Department of Health and Human Services outlined how it would see reduced staffing across nearly every division for the duration of the lapse although many key programs will continue.
The department also updated its contingency plans, adding that pre-notified employees would be temporarily furloughed, meaning they are not allowed to work. They would receive retroactive pay after the lapse ends, the note said.
Staff at other agencies were understood to have received similar notifications.
In a shutdown, hundreds of thousands of federal workers would be furloughed without pay, and members of the military and other employees who are deemed to be essential would continue working without a paycheck.
Certain benefits like Social Security checks would not be hit, but workers who go unpaid could eventually stop showing up, impacting sectors like air travel.
- 'Dangerous' -
If there is a shutdown in just a few days, our service members would be required to continue working but would be doing so without pay, and hundreds and thousands of their civilian colleagues would be furloughed, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said Thursday.
The Treasury Department added that among other implications, most core tax administration functions will stop and more than half of the Internal Revenue Service staff will be furloughed.
Apart from the possible lapse in funding, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) faces an added headache of a Saturday deadline for reauthorization.
It remains unclear if lawmakers will pass an FAA reauthorization law separately from a spending package.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Wednesday: There is no good time for a government shutdown, but this is a particularly bad time.
The consequences would be disruptive and dangerous, he added.
In Washington, a group of young climate activists of the Sunrise Movement entered Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's office to protest against the looming shutdown.
The White House warned in a statement that a lapse would leave the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief fund underfunded, delaying nearly 2,000 long-term recovery projects across the country.
- 'Avoidable risk' -
With days left to pass legislation that would keep the government running, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said Thursday that his chamber is pursuing bipartisanship.
He accused House Speaker McCarthy of choosing to elevate the whims and desires of a handful of hard-right extremists, with nothing to show for it.
Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate minority leader, said shutting down the government is an actively harmful proposition.
In a full shutdown, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) union estimates almost 1.8 million federal workers would go unpaid for the duration -- although receiving backpay afterward.
A spokeswoman for the International Monetary Fund added in a briefing on Thursday: We do see a shutdown as an avoidable risk for the US economy.