Marxism Research Network
Unofficial English Translation

Liu Jianhua: New Methods of Current U.S. Ideological Infiltration into China and Countermeasures

Marxism Abroad

Editor’s Note: External ideological infiltration is a primary method used by the United States to subvert dissenting states and maintain its hegemony. Currently, in order to impede China’s development, the U.S. has continuously adjusted its means of ideological infiltration: implementing "objectified" [1] infiltration through commodities embedded with American value symbol systems; "sensationalist" infiltration by utilizing agenda-setting and hot-button issues; "inducement" infiltration via the export of material interests and the lure of physical beauty; and "academic" infiltration under the guise of scholarship to construct academic traps. These efforts aim to diminish the efficacy of China’s socialist ideological education, mislead the political judgment of its youth, fracture the national cohesion of the Chinese people, and undermine China's national political security and social stability. Profoundly exposing the truth and essence of American ideological infiltration, promoting the construction of the "perceptual form" [2] of Chinese ideology, telling China's story well and spreading China’s voice, fully leveraging the efficacy and power of the rule of law, and constructing a system of philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics are the proper strategies to effectively respond to and counter these new methods of American ideological infiltration.

The external export of ideology is a customary tool used by the U.S. to subvert dissenting states and a basic pathway to maintaining American hegemony. Entering the New Era, as China’s comprehensive national strength and international influence have grown continuously, Western countries led by the U.S. have displayed unprecedented anxiety and vigilance toward China’s developmental momentum. To impede China’s development—from the Obama administration’s "Pivot to Asia" strategy to the Trump administration’s "Indo-Pacific Strategy," and now to the Biden administration’s comprehensive competition strategy—internal U.S. forces, whether Republican or Democrat, members of Congress or heads of government, or the President, are engaging in competition or even confrontation with China on almost all fronts. Relative to military encirclement and economic confrontation, ideological infiltration is highly concealed and capable of "pulling the firewood from beneath the cauldron" [3] to subvert dissenting states. Since the end of World War II, the U.S. has successively brought down the Soviet Union, repelled Japan, and destabilized the Middle East, with the export and infiltration of ideology playing an extremely important role. In recent years, the U.S. has launched successive trade wars, tech wars, opinion wars, and military encirclement campaigns against China; meanwhile, it has resorted to its old tricks with new ingenuity, carrying out ideological infiltration against China. Fully recognizing these new means of American ideological infiltration, remaining vigilant against their negative impacts and harms, changing with the times, moving with the trend, taking active measures, practicing scientific prevention, and implementing effective governance are of significant practical importance for responding to and countering American ideological infiltration and maintaining our national ideological security.

I. Ideological Infiltration is a Customary Tool for the United States to Maintain Hegemony

Ideology is a term belonging to the category of philosophy; it is "a system of interrelated values, ideas, and beliefs concerning the nature of man and society. It includes a whole set of ideas about what is the best way of life and what are the most appropriate institutional arrangements for society. It often includes a belief in the improvement of society. Ideology includes a picture of a good society and the means to achieve it." Generally speaking, ideology consists of three parts: a cognitive system, a value system, and a belief system. As one of the most powerful forces influencing modern international relations and changing the development of the modern world, ideology plays an extremely important role in national governance and social development. To that end, Marx once pointed out: "If considered from the perspective of ideas, then the dissolution of a certain ideology is sufficient to cause the ruin of an entire epoch." [4] emphasizing the importance of ideological work and attaching great importance to it is a fine tradition that Marxist classical writers have always adhered to and developed, and it is also the fundamental guarantee for the victory of the proletarian cause.

Ideology concerns the banner we fly, the path we tread, national political security, and the long-term peace and stability of the state; it is an extremely important task for a political party and a nation. Because of this, since the end of the Cold War, Western countries led by the U.S. have attached great importance to the external export of ideology, viewing ideological infiltration—alongside military conquest and economic plunder—as a vital means of seeking hegemony. Relative to military conquest and economic plunder, ideological infiltration is not only low-cost but also results in fewer casualties; its concealment and potency are incomparable to military or economic means. Ideological infiltration refers to a type of cultural colonial activity that imperceptibly influences or destroys the cognitive, value, and belief systems of a target country through direct or indirect cultural immersion and the export of values. In this sense, ideological infiltration is a "war without smoke." Once ideological infiltration is completed, it can achieve the effect of "subduing the enemy’s soldiers without fighting." [5] In times of peace, American decision-makers and political elites have greatly favored the use of this tactic, turning it into an important component of their foreign strategy through every possible means. Keynes once said, "The world is ruled by little else [than ideas]... Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back." The late U.S. President Nixon also believed, "The more we [the U.S.] have contact with the East, the greater the influence of the Western model on the East will be, which will inevitably enhance the internal forces causing change." With the rise of the internet society, the U.S. government’s ideological infiltration has developed from radio, television, and film media into cyberspace, such that former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton repeatedly stated that "the internet is a tremendous force for accelerating political, social, and economic change."

Admittedly, to achieve world hegemony, the U.S. since the end of WWII has always used "values diplomacy" as its primary diplomatic mode, while pushing the ideological factors within values diplomacy to their limit. To disintegrate the Soviet Union, Voice of America broadcasted propaganda to the USSR nearly 24 hours a day, while continuously marketing the American way of life, entertainment, and "democracy" internally. It totally negated Soviet history, the history of the CPSU, and Soviet leaders. Ultimately, thoughts were muddled, lifestyles were disordered, and the organization was paralyzed. The massive CPSU became like "monkeys scattering when the tree falls," [6] eventually dissolving, and the U.S. achieved its goal. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, to realize its own global interests, the U.S. repeated its old tricks, using customary means like entertainment culture, consumer culture, and leisure culture to conduct ideological infiltration against Japan and South Korea. To control the Middle East, the U.S. interfered in Middle Eastern affairs under the banners of "democracy" and "human rights," continuously pushing "color revolutions" that left countries in the Middle East and North Africa in chaos and filled with refugees, allowing the U.S. to easily control these regions without effort. To impede China’s rise, the U.S. has on one hand engaged with China, attempting to transform China through engagement; on the other hand, it has fully leveraged its advantages in capital, technology, information, and media, attempting to wear down the Chinese peoples' will, destroy their beliefs, and dissolve their fighting spirit through McDonald’s fast-food culture, Hollywood’s film and television culture, and the "chip culture" of computer networks, in a vain attempt to achieve "peaceful evolution" [7] in China.

Today, American-style values, lifestyles, and cognitive perspectives are quite prominent among some Chinese people, especially the youth. Non-mainstream thoughts and behaviors that were once criticized—such as consumerism, postmodern lifestyles, historical nihilism, [8] money worship, hedonism, and "exquisite egoism" [9]—now show signs of resurging. The moral decline, loss of faith, lack of ideals and convictions, deficiency of spiritual will, and weak sense of the rule of law among some youth are not unrelated to American ideological infiltration. Entering the New Era, infiltration and counter-infiltration actions in the ideological field have risen and fallen one after another. The direct infiltration methods customarily used by the U.S. to vilify, slander, and smear China have become even more emboldened, while new indirect means—objectified, sensationalist, inducement-based, and academic—are penetrating every available opening. The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and intelligence agencies spare no expense in recruiting a "fifth column," operating under the guise of NGOs, environmental organizations, volunteer services, poverty alleviation, and gospel preaching to cover their tracks. They continuously penetrate from our coastal areas to the hinterland, from cities to villages, and from the "public intellectual" [10] groups to the youth. Under the long-term influence of "European winds and American rain," [11] the situation of ideological infiltration and counter-infiltration facing China has become more complex and the tasks more arduous. Since the formation of the Biden administration, there is nearly unanimous consensus across the U.S. political spectrum that China is the greatest threat on its path to hegemony. Having identified China as its greatest competitor, the U.S. intends to carry out all-around containment and competition, within which ideological infiltration will become even more intense and concealed.

II. New Means of U.S. Ideological Infiltration Against China

Entering the New Era, as China has implemented a series of strategies and measures to effectively prevent major social risks and safeguard national security, a China characterized by "confidence in its path, theory, system, and culture" [12] has made it difficult for original U.S. methods—such as political isolation, cultural invasion, and human rights accusations—to exert greater deterrent or destructive effects. Consequently, the U.S. has changed its infiltration methods, presenting them as objectified, sensationalist, inducement-based, and academic infiltration. These are more concealed in content, diverse in form, and diffuse in method, attempting to destroy the cognitive, value, and belief systems of the Chinese people and thereby realize the "color revolution" envisioned by Americans.

1. Objectified infiltration is deepening daily.

The "objectified" [1] infiltration of ideology refers to "realizing micro-infiltration into people’s lives through vivid film and television images, specific commercial commodities, and differentiated value symbols. This micro-infiltration force exerts an influence that cannot be ignored on the ideological concepts and value judgments of contemporary Chinese youth through visualized, three-dimensional objects." It is well known that pursuing novelty and enjoying sensory experiences characterize the lifestyle and personalized reality of many young people; this provides an opportunity for the U.S. to conduct objectified ideological infiltration. To turn this possibility into a reality, infiltrators usually use the embedding of "American values" into the symbol systems of "film, television, and consumer culture" as the logical thread. They follow a path of "inducement–identification–isomorphism" [13] to conduct concealed infiltration on target subjects, thereby influencing and controlling their consciousness and actions, and eventually conquering or controlling their thoughts.

In terms of specific operations: First, using objectified film and television cultural landscapes to dominate subjects and induce sensory experiences. American entertainment carriers such as film, television, and music use strong sensory stimulation and the "cultural landscape" formed by audio-visual performing arts to easily induce the inner longings of youth. This allows abnormal needs and unconscious desires to be dominated and excited; in the identification with abundant material scenes and sensory pleasure, individual thoughts are assimilated, collective resistance is weakened, and individual judgment and independence are stripped away. Second, using objectified commodity consumption symbols to dominate consciousness. Relatively speaking, American consumer goods generally possess value symbols that are intuitive, simple, eye-catching, and contain specific connotations. From "Star-Spangled banners" to "Captain America’s shield," from "KFC" fast food to "Coca-Cola" drinks, and from NBA teams to Adidas and Nike sportswear, American value symbols are deeply imprinted on everything from product packaging to screen advertisements, and from promotional brochures to shop decorations. These simultaneously cater to and satisfy the youth groups who seek personalized pursuits and sensory experiences. "When a society seems increasingly capable of satisfying the needs of the individual through its own organization, the basic critical functions of independent thought, freedom of will, and the right to political opposition are gradually deprived." Third, using differentiated value symbols to structure and manipulate the value systems of youth. As the founding nation of the internet and the primary controller of its root servers, the U.S. leverages its developed internet technology and information advantages to set agendas, manufacture public opinion, shape culture, and create topics. Simultaneously, it connects fragments of values—such as audio-visual culture, consumer culture, and the American way of life—into an American-style value system. Using "freedom" and "democracy," it manufactures a so-called "international right to speak" to structure and manipulate the value systems of youth regarding entertainment, learning, and life. Youth are the primary users of cyberspace; under the enticement of "simulated landscapes" [14] on the network, they are easily conquered by differentiated American value symbols.

2. Sensationalist infiltration is appearing in ever-new forms.

Hype is a common term used in communication studies; it is an unconventional mode of transmission that seeks to expand the influence of a person or thing, typically through repeated propaganda via the media. Hype is like a feint in military strategy, utilizing the sophisticated tactic of "making a feint to the east while attacking in the west" [15]. Its objective is to create a sensationalist effect around an event or figure, thereby maximizing specific goals or interests. In traditional society, newspapers, radio, and television provided the platforms for hype. The rise of the Internet has radically transformed the speed and scope of information hype, resulting in unprecedented sensationalism and amplification effects. In the information society, as competition between major powers intensifies, the struggle and maneuvering within the ideological sphere exhibit an increasingly fierce developmental trend. Western countries, led by the United States, give full play to their advantages in media and discourse to seize the so-called "moral high ground." They take every opportunity to hype up sudden incidents and hot-button issues in China’s development, providing inflammatory reports. They do not hesitate to add inflammatory details, engage in wanton smearing, or invent groundless rumors to slander, vilify, deface, and attack the party and state's political system and operational strategies. Their goal is to create estrangement and conflict between the Chinese people and the Party and government, as well as between China and the world, thereby disrupting China’s internal unity and stability, sabotaging its external environment for development, and ultimately hindering China’s progress.

This practice—invoking the "moral high ground" while disregarding objective facts and wantonly using the media to hype sudden incidents and hot issues—is intended to weave "discourse traps" [16] and engineer public opinion crises. Its goal is to generate and smuggle in "private goods" [17] containing vast amounts of American ideology to impact and influence our mainstream ideological education. Simultaneously, through asymmetric information misleading, manipulation, and even the hijacking of China's existing moral concepts, spiritual beliefs, and value systems, they aim to create conceptual opposition and emotional barriers between the Party and the people, and between China and the world. Through this, they strive to dismantle and destroy our proper ideals, beliefs, spiritual faith, and moral laws, achieving the social effect of "subduing the enemy without fighting" [18]. As Mao Zedong stated: "To overthrow a political power, it is always necessary first of all to create public opinion, to do work in the ideological sphere." In recent years, whether under the Trump or Biden administrations, speculative infiltration in the ideological field has become more prominent, with ever-changing topics and novel forms of hype. From the economic "China neo-colonialism theory" and "China taking disadvantage of others theory" to the political "China threat theory" and "human rights violation theory"; from the technological "tech threat theory" and "tech theft theory" to the military "China hegemony theory"; from the public health "China virus theory" and "Wuhan pneumonia theory" to the social "Xinjiang forced labor theory" and "child labor theory"—every single one is a "discourse trap" woven by the United States. Through these fabricated "discourse traps," they conduct public opinion hype and media encirclement to apply simultaneous pressure, create internal opposition, sabotage China's external development environment, and ultimately block the process of China’s development.

  1. Inductive infiltration remains deeply concealed. Inductive infiltration refers to the use of money, sex, "succor for the distressed," and other forms of interest transfers to win over, corrupt, bribe, and manipulate those in power, disseminators of public opinion, those facing livelihood difficulties, and those who are unaware of the truth. These individuals’ illegal activities are then documented as evidence for coercion, inducement, threats, and blackmail, forcing them to influence education, mislead public opinion, and incite crowds to cause trouble according to American intentions, thereby achieving activities aimed at subverting, Splitting, and sabotaging the target country. Inductive infiltration is a low-cost, threatening form of infiltration. Its purpose is to use the transfer of interests to entice those who lack ideals and convictions, who are devoid of moral spirit, and who cannot withstand temptation. It is a tactical behavior where individuals are made to act according to the enticer's intentions under the pressure of so-called "evidence." Marxism holds that the insatiable greed for money, power, wealth, and sex is an inherent biological characteristic of humans. This biological trait, which is "born in the bone" and cannot be shaken off or avoided, continues to govern and influence the direction of human cognition to a large extent before the complete awakening of rational humanity and human reason. Precisely by grasping this inherent biological greed in human nature, the US Central Intelligence Agency, the National Endowment for Democracy, and even members of the US Congress have all joined the fray to win over, induce, and corrupt specific personnel in our country, in a vain attempt to collapse China in the ideological sphere.

In April 2021, China Central Television (CCTV) exposed the cases of Sattar Sawut, the former Director of the Education Department of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and Alimjan Memetimin, the former Deputy Director. Under the recruitment, corruption, and inducement of US intelligence agencies, they tampered with and manipulated the textbooks written in the Uyghur language for primary and secondary schools in Xinjiang for 13 years. These textbooks were filled with bloody, violent, terrorist, and separatist ideologies, even replacing the national emblem of the People's Republic of China with the so-called national emblem of the "Republic of East Turkestan," and fabricating stories such as seven Uyghur girls being forced off a cliff by Han soldiers. It can be said that for a long period, violent terrorist activities occurred frequently in Xinjiang, and the collusion between terrorist and separatist forces caused serious security problems; these were not unrelated to America's inductive infiltration. Under the scientific decision-making and meticulous governance of the Party Central Committee, violent terrorist acts in Xinjiang have been suppressed, and the society has shown a trend of steady and orderly development. Similarly, since 2018, the Hong Kong region, which had always been prosperous and stable, experienced serious riots due to the "Extradition Bill incident" [19]. Investigating the reasons, this was largely related to the long-term inductive infiltration by Western countries led by the United States. To destabilize Hong Kong, institutions such as the US Consulate General in Hong Kong, the National Endowment for Democracy, and the US Congress have long provided financial support to "Hong Kong independence" forces. They have continuously directed, induced, and won over Hong Kong youth and members of the education sector, making a great fuss over primary, secondary, and even university textbooks—replacing "national unity" with "Hong Kong historical distinctiveness" and constantly manufacturing contradictions between Hong Kong and the Central Government. Under long-term induction, the national consciousness of Hong Kong youth became deficient, and "Hong Kong independence" consciousness rose. Furthermore, this foul wind occasionally colludes with the "Taiwan independence" countercurrent, aiming to sabotage national unity and disrupt the pace of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

  1. Academic infiltration is multifaceted and ever-changing. Academic infiltration refers to the method of replacing and reshaping the cognitive system of the target audience under the guise of "academic exchange," or through academic packaging, manipulating data, promoting the application of specific theories, or constructing "index traps" that suggest "the West is superior to China." Compared to concrete, speculative, and inductive infiltration, academic infiltration is more concealed, and its impact on ideology is the most thorough and profound; it seeks to subvert the cognitive system of the target audience, affecting their worldview and values. Regarding the act of academic infiltration, the British author [Frances Stonor] Saunders argued: "If we define the Cold War as a war of ideas, then this war possessed an enormous cultural arsenal, housing weapons such as journals, books, conferences, seminars, art exhibitions, concerts, awards, and so forth." She noted, "The tentacles of American espionage organizations reached extremely far, treating intellectuals and their work as pawns on a chessboard to be moved into various positions... extending into all manner of cultural endeavors." Indeed, for a period of time, while China actively developed international people-to-people exchanges, it overly emphasized learning from and borrowing the advanced education and technology of foreign developed countries while neglecting the defense of ideological security within these exchanges. This allowed theories and thoughts carrying the Western value system's "index traps" to easily enter China’s school education system; this situation has been particularly severe in the higher education system.

To better illustrate this issue, we can employ Xu Jialu's [20] theory of cultural stratification. Xu Jialu believes that culture is divided into surface, middle, and bottom layers. Surface culture consists of the material forms surrounding daily life—food, clothing, housing, transport, entertainment, films, pop music, fashion, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, jeans, etc. Middle culture is embodied in customs, etiquette, systems, laws, religion, and art. Bottom culture is manifested in worldviews, outlooks on life, values, and aesthetics. Among these three layers, the bottom layer has the deepest influence during infiltration. Unsurprisingly, in order to completely change the cognitive system of the Chinese people, US intelligence agencies have exploited the problems of "ideological suspension" and "faith vacuum" that appeared among youth and intellectuals since China’s Reform and Opening-up. They have vigorously promoted the establishment of research institutions in Chinese universities to disseminate American theories, marketed American textbooks, and systematically invited influential personnel from China's Party, government, propaganda, and cultural-educational departments to the US for exchanges. Simultaneously, they utilize academic exchanges, conferences, and student associations favored by Chinese universities to spread American academic perspectives and build "index traps" of "Western superiority," attempting to use American academic and discourse systems to replace and transform those of China. In some universities, particularly in the fields of economics, management, sociology, law, and communication, the textbook and discourse systems are almost entirely replicas or reprints of American theories. In some academic conferences and classroom teaching, Chinese theories, paths, systems, and culture are openly questioned, causing extremely negative social impacts and seriously threatening our ideological security and social development.

III. The Harm of the New Methods of US Ideological Infiltration Against China The new methods of US ideological infiltration—from content to approach—have an extremely massive and far-reaching impact, influence, and destructive power on China’s mainstream ideological education, citizens' political discernment, national cohesion, as well as national political security and social stability.

  1. Concrete infiltration diminishes the efficacy of Socialist Core Values education. Marx pointed out: "Consciousness can never be anything else than conscious existence, and the existence of men is their actual life-process." In other words, no ideological activity is a purely conceptual or abstract movement; it can only be, and necessarily is, a reflection of people's sensory activities, especially their daily life activities. Based on this logic, to exert the effect of ideological infiltration, the United States uses its developed media technology, mature discourse system, advanced academic theories, and multi-dimensional, visual marketing to plant cultural products, lifestyles, and consumption forms—which carry American knowledge, value, and belief systems—into China-US exchanges and interactions. Through sensory and concrete infiltration in the realm of daily life, they impact or diminish the efficacy of China’s Socialist Core Values education. Indeed, the Socialist Core Values [21] are the mainstream ideology of China in the New Era, the concentrated expression of the contemporary Chinese spirit, the common value pursuit of all Chinese people, and the basic value framework for adhering to and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics. Because the ideology imprinted with American cognitive, value, and belief systems is loaded with cultural symbols of leisure, entertainment, and sensory experience, once it enters the realm of daily life, it easily attracts or induces the psychological curiosity of people, readily squeezing the space for Socialist Core Values education and canceling out its effects.

Looking at the present, under the saturation and infiltration of "European winds and American rains" [22], Hollywood blockbusters and time-travel dramas are hits, McDonald's fast-food culture is hot, Adidas, Nike, and even the NBA are favored; the pursuit of capital and power, "exquisite egoism" [23], the spread of "involution" [24] and "lying flat" [25], obsession with mobile phones and games, the sidelining of emotions and ideals, and the suspension of spirit and faith all reflect the shadow of American ideological infiltration. This situation is particularly severe among the youth. In recent years, from the central level down to the schools, great importance has been attached to Socialist Core Values education and the education of "cultivating virtue and nurturing people" [26] for youth and society at large, which has produced significant results. However, compared to formal school education, the sensory stimulation and experiences hidden in daily life, the pursuit of individualistic fashion trends, and virtualized online social platforms more easily pique their interest. If we allow an ideology dominated by these sensory-stimulating and experiential activities to prevail, mainstream ideological education centered on the Socialist Core Values will undoubtedly face severe challenges.

  1. Speculative infiltration affects citizens' political discernment.

"Political judgment is the ability of an individual, a political party, or an organization to maintain a political standpoint and a political vantage point in order to gain insight, foresight, discernment, analysis, and judgment regarding various domestic and international social phenomena, events, relations, and situations. It is a comprehensive expression of the political direction, political stance, political experience, and political behavior of an individual or party organization." Political judgment concerns an individual’s political position, behavior, and direction. For those who lack political judgment or possess a blurred sense of it, the lesser consequence is a reduction in political sensitivity and a failure of political identification, leading one to easily lose their way and hinder personal development. The greater consequence is the misguiding of political discernment and political execution, damaging the interests of the state and the nation. To tarnish China’s international image, disrupt the pace of China's development, influence international public opinion, and mislead the political stance and judgment of Chinese citizens, the United States often creates hype around Chinese topics in the international arena under the guise of so-called "freedom," "democracy," and "human rights." Examples include "China virus," "Wuhan pneumonia," "Xinjiang black cotton," the "China threat theory," and the "Chinese neo-colonialism theory." To generate hype and sensation, it often employs modern technologies such as grafting [27], time-space manipulation, and technical assembly to present so-called chains of evidence. This confuses international public opinion and smears, vilifies, and attacks the CPC and the Chinese government, causing a significant negative impact on China’s development and the molding of its image. This type of hype-based penetration—implanted into the international public opinion field based on U.S. technological and discourse advantages—possesses highly concealed diffusive effects. It easily gains efficacy through the polarization of public opinion groups. Prolonged dissemination and hype touch the very foundations of our citizens' political stance and political identity. Consequently, some scholars have pointed out extraordinary phenomena in our country's public opinion field: some Party members and cadres listen only to one side and blindly believe online rumors, leaving their political vision blurred; some scholars and public intellectuals [28] blindly worship American-style "universal" sentiments, sparing no effort to stump for public opinion with specific predispositions; some cadres and masses find themselves coerced by American-style public opinion, echoing its sentiments and "dancing to its tune" [29]; and still others with ulterior motives—seeking their own political interests or developmental capital—even go so far as to "criticize China at every turn" [30], becoming "followers" and "spokespersons" for American public opinion. Such individuals, lacking political principles, political stance, and a political bottom line, are utterly harmful to the development of the country and the maintenance of national dignity. We must remain highly vigilant.

  1. Inductive penetration endangers our country's political security. Political security means that a country's sovereignty, territory, regime, and ideology are free from threats and accidents and remain in a stable and secure state; it is the core and guarantee of overall national security. Only with political security can the security of the economy, culture, and military be guaranteed. Conversely, if politics is insecure, it is difficult to ensure security in these other realms. In this sense, political security has a decisive impact on overall national security. Driven by this concept, since the end of the Cold War, the United States has not for a moment relaxed its penetration and encroachment of China's political security. If it could be said that before the financial crisis, the U.S. attempted to incorporate China into the capitalist system under its leadership through "engagement" via economic and trade exchanges or people-to-people culture, thereby inducing gradual political changes, then after the financial crisis, the U.S. became increasingly anxious and panicked over China's developmental momentum. To force political change in China, the U.S. has coordinated efforts across all levels of society and adopted multiple measures, attempting to use inductive penetration to divide and disintegrate China from within, ultimately leading to social unrest and the obstruction of political security. In recent years, the U.S. has induced the Dalai Lama and other "Tibet independence" forces to frequently smear the image of the CPC and the Chinese government in the international arena; it has secretly supported the "East Turkestan" separatist leader Rebiya Kadeer in carrying out violent terrorist activities in Xinjiang; it has induced "Taiwan independence" forces to engage in "seeking independence through the pandemic"; and it has secretly supported "Hong Kong independence" forces in launching a color revolution during the "Hong Kong legislative amendment turmoil" [31]. Simultaneously, it uses the transfer of interests to induce government personnel, internet celebrities, science and education personnel, and overseas students to steal national intelligence and confidential documents. It exploits sudden domestic incidents and hot-button issues to willfully distort facts, create false impressions, and confuse public opinion. It uses the internet to manufacture international public opinion to smear, vilify, and attack the Party, the government, our political system, and our path of development. It utilizes emergencies and hot-button issues to manufacture social unrest and mass incidents. The "Sunflower Student Movement" in Taiwan and the "Occupy Central" and "pro-independence riots" in Hong Kong were all linked to U.S. inductive penetration. As the American political scientist Huntington stated: "the primary threat to the stability of a traditional society comes not from the invasion of foreign armies, but from the invasion of foreign ideas; printed matter advances faster and deeper than armies and tanks." [40] Looking back carefully now, the "Occupy Central" and riots triggered by the "amendment turmoil" in recent years—in which some young people with little life experience participated in creating chaos—vividly validate Huntington’s words: British and American printed matter undoubtedly played a role. Similarly, the 13-year penetration of "poisonous textbooks" in Xinjiang's primary and secondary schools, which produced extreme violent terrorist incidents, is the most ample proof. Its influence was extremely baneful and directly endangered national political security.

  2. Academic penetration subverts the social cognitive system, value system, and belief system. Xi Jinping emphasized that "if we do not occupy the position of propaganda and ideology, others will." A country's cognitive system, value system, and belief system constitute the core of its ideology and provide the theoretical foundation for its thoughts, ideals, spiritual faith, morality, and law. If the cognitive system falls into chaos, the value system collapses, and the belief system is lost, the country will lose its lifeblood, vitality, and momentum. In this sense, these systems play a pivotal role in establishing national independence and national consciousness. Reflecting on the lessons of the collapse of the Soviet Communist Party and the state, an extremely important reason was that under long-term American academic penetration, the various republics within the Soviet Union lost their cognitive identification with the federal government, the Party's core value system was thrown into disorder, and the Marxist or communist belief system was nihilated [32], ultimately leading that vast country to collapse in an instant. Today, the U.S. seeks to repeat its old tricks, attempting to use the methods it employed against the Soviet Union to target China through large-scale academic penetration. U.S. intelligence agencies, academic groups, or scholars cultivated by these departments use the pretext of academic conferences and exchanges—and the guise of "academic evaluation"—to cast American standards as international standards. They aggressively market American theories, American discourse, American institutions, American models, and American beliefs to China. Some domestic government officials, public intellectuals, university teachers, and students returning from abroad—under the influence and "nurturing" of American public opinion, education, and lifestyle—worship "American standards," provide them with devoted assistance, and vigorously promote and practice them. For a period of time, "American standards" ran rampant in Chinese universities and society. School textbook systems, teaching methods, and operational mechanisms became increasingly Americanized, while social cognition, value orientations, and beliefs became increasingly utilitarian and secularized. American development concepts, operational mechanisms, social construction, and even holiday activities became objects for some to scramble to emulate. Following the logic of U.S. ideological penetration, long-term academic penetration will inevitably cause Chinese youth, Chinese education, and Chinese society to identify with "American standards" and deviate from Chinese theory, the Chinese system, the Chinese path, and Chinese culture. If allowed to develop, this will inevitably cause China’s social cognitive system to deviate, its value system to fall into chaos, and its belief system to be marginalized, further weakening the centripetal force, cohesion, mobilization capacity, and combat effectiveness of the entire society. "Past experience, if not forgotten, is a guide for the future" [33]. The lessons of the collapse of the Soviet Party and state are profound, and we should remain highly vigilant.

IV. Strategic Choices for China to Respond to the New Means of U.S. Ideological Penetration toward China

Xi Jinping pointed out, "Whether we can do a good job in ideological work is a matter of the Party’s future and destiny, long-term national stability, and national cohesion and centripetal force." Given the pressure from the new methods of aggressive U.S. ideological penetration and the resulting challenges and harm to our ideological security, China must maintain its composure and respond calmly. We must fully expose the truth and essence of U.S. ideological penetration and the threat it poses to world peace. We must hold high the banner of the guiding position of Marxist ideology, solidly promote the "perceptual form" [34] dissemination of China's mainstream ideology, tell China’s story well, make China's voice heard, and give full play to the power and effectiveness of the rule of law. We must attach importance to and strengthen the construction of a system of philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics, actively set the agenda to lead international public opinion, and construct a response strategy to safeguard our country's ideological security.

  1. Promoting the dissemination of the perceptual form of China's mainstream ideology is a key measure to counter concrete penetration. The fundamental strategy of the concrete penetration of ideology is to spuriously satisfy people’s needs for perceptual activity. "Upholding the fundamentals and breaking new ground" is a basic requirement for our country's ideological work in the New Era. Therefore, facing the impact of U.S. concrete penetration—through visual cultural products and consumption goods turned into value-symbols—on our education in Socialist Core Values, we must, on the one hand, "break" the harmful nature of U.S. concrete products and commodities. We must profoundly reveal the ideological characteristics loaded onto these culture products and consumer goods. We must criticize products and commodities hidden under the "cultural landscape" [35]; although they attract consumers through sensory stimulation and vivid forms, the "value-symbols" they flaunt represent a diffused, ubiquitous, and surface-level penetration. This surface penetration may seem novel, fashionable, and pleasing—offering a rare, momentary pleasure and stimulation akin to smoking opium—but in reality, it causes harm to the body and the deprivation of thought and spirit. Long-term use and consumption inevitably lead to alienation by these concrete products, resulting in a loss of self. Currently, the "culture of the three slices" [36]—KFC (potato chips), Hollywood (films), and computer chips—which carry the American "cultural landscape," has a profound impact on the values of young people and must be given high priority. On the other hand, we must "uphold" the perceptual form of our country’s mainstream ideology. Mainstream ideology is not merely a subject for the study; for it to gain acceptance and identification, it must be transformed from abstract textual indoctrination into concrete emotional resonance. We must pay attention to the audience's social life, psychological demands, and the orientations of the era. Especially in this current era of accelerating change and rapid development of information technology, where the information contact, ideological behavior, and social interaction of the audience are increasingly developing toward the concrete, virtual, and perceptual, the previous ideological communication method based primarily on theoretical indoctrination is difficult to make effective. Therefore, to adapt to the changes of the times, it is particularly important and urgent to strengthen the construction and dissemination of the perceptual form of our country's mainstream ideology. Key measures include: first, promoting the construction of the perceptual form of our country's mainstream ideology to make the lines, principles, policies, systems, and measures of the Party and the state more intuitive, vivid, and specific—using intuitive and perceptible methods like "Understanding the Government Report in One Graphic" so the audience can understand the main points at a glance; second, carefully designing and promoting cultural products and consumer goods that embody the core meaning of our country's mainstream ideology—using "cultural landscapes" such as "A Bite of China," "Kung Fu Panda," and "Hero Pens" to shape the behavior and values of the audience; third, emphasizing the mass dissemination of the perceptual form of Marxist theory, attaching importance to innovation in media platforms and discourse styles, and guiding the audience to establish a healthy and scientific perceptual outlook on life. This is a key measure for maintaining the security of our country's mainstream ideology.

  2. Telling China’s story well and making China's voice heard is a major measure for governing hype-based penetration.

The United States’ hype-driven infiltration of China's ideology is, in essence, a contest with China over international discourse power. Faced with an international public opinion environment characterized by "the West is strong and the East is weak" and the reality that "those who lose their voice will be bullied," any form of forbearance or retreat will not only fail to reduce the frequency of the other side's smears and slanders but will instead cause one to lose direction amidst a torrential wave of public opinion that can "melt gold with a chorus of voices" [37]. To this end, in responding to the hype-driven ideological infiltration by the United States, China must not only attach full importance to it strategically but, more importantly, must discard illusions tactically and prepare for struggle. "Discard illusions and prepare for struggle" was the title of a Xinhua News Agency commentary written by Mao Zedong in August 1949 [38] in response to the U.S. State Department’s "White Paper" on China-U.S. relations, which was published to absolve the Truman administration of responsibility after its support for Chiang Kai-shek in the civil war ended in failure. In this commentary, Mao Zedong clearly revealed the logic of imperialism and all reactionaries toward the people's cause, as well as the logic of the people themselves. Mao pointed out: "Make trouble, fail, make trouble again, fail again... till their doom; that is the logic of the imperialists and all reactionaries the world over in dealing with the people's cause, and they will never go against this logic." Conversely, "Struggle, fail, struggle again, fail again, struggle again... till their victory; that is the logic of the people, and they too will never go against this logic." In his exposition, Mao profoundly revealed the nature of imperialism and all reactionaries, explaining that they are inherent troublemakers; the masses can only find a way forward if they discard illusions and wage a resolute struggle against them. Similarly, in the face of the United States' aggressive ideological hype, we must speak out with a "Chinese voice" with full confidence, wage a tit-for-tat struggle against rhetoric that smears and "sings down" [39] China, and use ironclad facts to let lies collapse of their own accord. At the same time, we must "tell the China story well." We must be adept at using the internet to proactively set agendas and tell the stories of the Chinese revolution, construction, and reform and opening up; the stories of traditional Chinese culture, revolutionary culture, and advanced socialist culture; the story of how the Chinese nation, through humiliation and oridals, transformed from the "sick man of East Asia" [40] to standing up, becoming prosperous, and now welcoming the stage of becoming strong; the story of how the Communist Party of China (CPC) has remained true to its original aspiration and founding mission, forging ahead and creating brilliance out of suffering; and the stories of the "Belt and Road Initiative" and the concept of "a community with a shared future for humanity" as they move from theory to practice. By making the good voice of China and Chinese practice vivid and relatable, we can continuously enhance the persuasiveness of Chinese ideology and promote the global influence of the Chinese Dream.

  1. Leveraging the effectiveness and power of the rule of law is the fundamental guarantee for dismantling seductive infiltration. Seductive ideological infiltration refers to acts of misleading, bewitching, and illegally infringing upon the ideological sphere of a target country through illegal means such as co-opting, corrupting, or cultivating proxies, and even undermining the target country's ideological security by creating false appearances. Seductive ideological infiltration is highly deceptive and destructive, posing a serious threat to the security system of the infiltrated nation. As the saying goes, the law is a powerful weapon for governing a country and an important means of maintaining ideological security. For China, amidst a period of great social change and transformation, effectively maintaining ideological security urgently requires leveraging the effectiveness and power of the rule of law to realize the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. The effectiveness and power of the rule of law can not only enhance the legitimacy of ideological security governance but also strengthen its efficacy. As some scholars argue, "specialized and functionalized legal punishment is a more sensitive, sophisticated, circuitous, concealed, and labor-saving application of power." In a transforming China, challenges from the ideological sphere are inevitable and extremely complex. The rule of law is a more sophisticated and efficient means of social governance and a basic path for enhancing the legitimacy and effectiveness of ideological security governance. Legal means can not only demarcate boundaries for ideological security and clarify the rights and obligations of citizens and organizations, but also effectively deter the clamor and inducements of foreign anti-China forces in the ideological field, ensuring that the maintenance of ideological security is based on the law. In recent years, with the continuous acceleration of China's legislative process, major breakthroughs have been made in the rule of law within the field of ideological security. The successive promulgation of laws such as the Anti-Secession Law, the Cybersecurity Law, the Law on the Protection of Heroes and Martyrs, and the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has effectively deterred the seductive infiltration activities of foreign anti-China forces, domestic separatist forces, and extremist forces. However, because the refinement, systematic nature, and connectivity of relevant laws are still imperfect, the aforementioned forces attempt to find legal loopholes and gaps, changing their methods to conduct seductive infiltration. To this end, on the one hand, the state must refine and optimize existing legal provisions to facilitate their execution and application; on the other hand, the state should introduce new laws such as an "Anti-Infiltration Law" and an "Ideological Security Law" as soon as possible to plug legal loopholes and build a systematic and mature legal system for safeguarding ideological security. This is the fundamental guarantee for dismantling seductive ideological infiltration and effectively maintaining our country's ideological security.

  2. Strengthening the construction of a philosophy and social sciences system with Chinese characteristics is the necessary choice for resisting academic-style infiltration. In the Manifesto of the Communist Party, Marx pointed out: "The bourgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production... draws all, even the most barbarian, nations into civilization... It has made barbarian and semi-barbarian countries dependent on the civilized ones, nations of peasants on nations of bourgeois, the East on the West." Clearly, the "East dependent on the West" pattern revealed by Marx refers to how the backward economic development of the East led its civilization and culture to be restricted and influenced by Western civilization and culture. In fact, throughout China's modernization process, Chinese people long adhered to the path of "Western learning spreading to the East." While carrying out the modern transformation and reconstruction of traditional Chinese culture, they also—consciously or unconsciously—remained subject to the influence of Western civilization and culture in their thinking. Consequently, in the construction of academic theories and systems, academic models and discourse systems emerged where "Greece must be mentioned in every breath" or "the United States must be cited in every breath." This situation persisted for a long time during the period of reform and opening up and influenced the construction of Chinese academia. Fully recognizing the harm of U.S. academic ideological infiltration and strengthening the construction of a philosophy and social sciences system with Chinese characteristics will not only help to thoroughly resist U.S. academic infiltration and saturation and maintain the security of China's mainstream ideology, but also enhance confidence in the theory and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics, creating a cultural and civilizational power commensurate with China's national strength. To this end, in terms of guiding ideology, we must follow the spirit of Xi Jinping's speech at the Symposium on Philosophy and Social Sciences. We must "follow a developmental approach that is based on China, learns from abroad, digs into history, grasps the present, cares for humanity, and faces the future, striving to construct philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics." In practice, first, we must adhere to the correct political direction, value orientation, and academic guidance. Marxism is the foundation of our Party and the soul of our nation. In building the philosophy and social sciences system, we must unequivocally persist in Marxist guidance, using Marxist positions, viewpoints, and methods to analyze scholarly issues and construct theoretical systems. We must adhere to a value orientation that centers on core tasks, serves the overall situation, and conducts scholarship for the people. We must maintain an academic guidance that upholds responsibility and safeguards national security and development interests. Second, we must persist in an academic system construction guided by problems. The construction of philosophy and social sciences is not merely "scholarship in a study"; it must care about the problems of real people and social development. We must discover, recognize, and grasp laws through the combination of history and reality, theory and practice, and international and domestic contexts, constantly enhancing the logic, rigor, and scientific nature of the academic system. Third, we must construct and tell the story of the academic discourse system of "China’s Governance." over the past century, the CPC has led the people of all ethnic groups to create economic and social development miracles in human history through the great practice of revolution, construction, and reform. This has not only practically proven the immense vitality of the theory, system, path, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics but has also provided unprecedented data and cases for academic research, fully reflecting the advanced and scientific nature of the Party and government's governance capacity and system. Telling the academic discourse of "China’s Governance" well has universal historical significance. Finally, we should demonstrate the "Chinese style" of philosophy and social science through mutual learning between civilizations. Xi Jinping noted: "Civilizations have become richer and more colorful through exchanges and mutual learning." Western countries like the United States have developed civilizations and relatively mature philosophy and social science systems. It is necessary for us to learn from their advanced science and technology, but we must never copy them indiscriminately. Those academic theories saturated with the U.S. "value system" carry the arrogance, prejudice, selfishness, and extremism of Americans; they must be identified and resisted. The theoretical confidence found in Chinese practice must be fully promoted. This is both the necessary choice for resisting U.S. academic-theoretical ideological infiltration and an inherent requirement for effectively maintaining our national ideological security and demonstrating Chinese academic confidence.

The export and infiltration of ideology is a consistent means by which the United States subverts countries it deems "other," and it is also one of the primary methods the U.S. uses to maintain its hegemony and control the world. China’s strategic pursuit of a peaceful rise cannot diminish U.S. vigilance and hostility toward China, and the proposal of a New Type of Great Power Relations cannot eliminate U.S. encirclement and containment of China. On the contrary, the United States, relying on its advantages in capital, technological control, and discourse, is launching an unprecedented ideological strategic offensive against China. Whether through "catching at shadows" (baseless claims) in content, innovating new forms, or utilizing unpredictable paths, the goal is to completely destroy the self-confidence of the Chinese people and hinder China’s progress and development. Former U.S. President Obama explicitly stated that "if over a billion Chinese citizens live the same freedom and enjoy the same prosperity as us [Americans and Australians], then the planet would be in a very miserable state." It is clear that the infiltration and counter-infiltration in the ideological sphere between the U.S. and China will be a battle without "gunsmoke," and it is also the primary realistic danger we face in realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. For China to continue its path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, it must fully attach importance to the long-term, complex, and arduous nature of the China-U.S. ideological struggle. We must discard illusions, maintain strategic focus, and wage an unremitting struggle to resist and defeat U.S. ideological infiltration.