Michael Sobolik is a scholar and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. Courtesy | The Hudson Institute
The United States is a Pacific power, Hudson Institute scholar Michael Sobolik said in a discussion about TikTok, China, and American foreign policy, hosted by the Alexander Hamilton Society March 26.
Sobolik divided his talk into two sections, the first being the importance of Indo-Pacific allies. He discussed the controversy of proper statecraft, including the question of whether alliances are transactionals or partnerships.
“The United States thought that if we could live in a world where we didn’t have to have a trade off between our economic prosperity and our national security, that would have been a really great world to live in,” Sobolik said. “As it turns out, we do not live in a world without tradeoffs.”
The second bulk of Sobolik’s talk revolved around the Chinese Communist Party and its use of censorship.
“Asia and the CCP matter more than just our presence over there,” Sobolik said. “This is something that Washington has been beginning to reckon with, because the CCP is not confined to their near abroad. They are targeting our home. They’re targeting the integrity of our democratic system of government.”
Junior Malia Thibado said the Chinese government has been infiltrating the United States through the media and intellectual programs, like the Thousand Talents Program.
“The Thousand Talents Program is a talent acquisition strategy that the CCP has leveraged to great effect over the past few years,” Sobolik said. “It basically says we will throw a ton of money at an American academic in exchange for a research partnership. It is a really clever way to not only get basic and applied research from American institutions, but to actually poach American talent.”
Hillsdale College Professor of History Paul Rahe drew parallels between Chinese media control and Nazi censorship tactics.
“The German consul in Los Angeles got to see every Hollywood movie before it was released, and then got to give advice about how it should be reshaped,” Rahe said.
Sobolik said the CCP is waging war in the information domain, such as through TikTok.
“TikTok is the biggest threat vector to divide and control the American public,” Sobolik said. “The CCP leverages that user base to lobby Congress. The CCP is boosting narratives that are favorable to the party, depressing content that they deem necessary, threatening, and much if not all of the propaganda they are spreading are either half lies or total lies.”
