Report: China sharpens influencing efforts as impact dulls Eurasianet On the offensive: a military training in Xinjiang last year (PLA handout) China’s crackdown on Uighurs and its initial cover-up surrounding the outbreak the COVID-19 pandemic have undermined the impact of its prolonged global image-crafting campaign, a new report argues. China’s Global Media Footprint: Democratic Responses to Expanding Authoritarian Influencechronicles the rise of Beijing’s digital messaging machine over the past decade. These efforts to advance Beijing’s political priorities and open new investment opportunities have proven most effective in countries with weak institutions, where China can leverage the indebtedness of foreign governments.