China and Pakistan are close allies, is a fact well known. Their leaders often use metaphors like “higher than the mountains” and “deeper than the oceans” to describe the relationship between the two countries. China considers Pakistan its rental state to advance its geopolitical machinations and regional ambitions. For Pakistan, China is their eternal go-to state, a country they trust to support their foundering economy and address their perennial misgivings regarding India.
While they share a relationship in an array of fields, a recent report published on Logically throws light on the close online association between the two countries. An investigation conducted by OSINT experts of Logically found that several social media influencers pretending to be Chinese, in reality, were Pakistanis. They are, by definition, sockpuppets—a false online identity created by a person or group to promote their own opinions or views.
A large number of seemingly Chinese influencer accounts on social media platforms, most notably on Twitter, are operated by Pakistanis, with a majority of their followers being fake or bot accounts. These accounts then deploy disinformation campaigns that align with China and Pakistan and is always against India, stemming from their shared animus against New Delhi.
Interestingly, these sockpuppets have enjoyed state support from both Chinese and Pakistan state officials, who enthusiastically share and promote content uploaded by them.
Be it fake claims regarding the Galwan Valley clashes between Indian and Chinese troopers or the conspiracy theories surrounding the helicopter crash of late CDS General Bipin Rawat, or any other internal matter concerning India, these sockpuppets fuel disinformation online in their bid to create a rift within the Indian society along religious and ideological lines.
Nian Zhen, who operates under Twitter handle @Xinhua_88, is one such Pakistani impersonator who pretends to be a Chinese national. Zhen claims to be a member of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations(CICIR) and is often found spreading Chinese propaganda under the pretext of sharing intellectual insight from a think tank based in Beijing.
According to data analysed on TruthNest, the initial posts made by @Xinhua_88 were in Urdu, indicating that it is a sockpuppet likely operated by someone in Pakistan. Logically cites audience intelligence tool SparkToro to claim that 22.3 per cent of @Xinhua_88’s followers are fake or bots.
Furthermore, @Xinhua_88 was also found to have received significantly higher engagements as compared to other accounts with a similar following. It was also discovered that most of the accounts with which @Xinhua_88 interacted were primarily associated with Chinese government officials or accounts notorious for pushing pro-Chinese propaganda online.
Zhao Lijian (@zlj517), the deputy director of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Information Department, was one of the officials who interacted with @Xinhua_88. Zhen also interacted with Shen Shiwei (@shen_shiwei), a production editor at China Global Television Network (CGTN), who shared a picture of Indian soldiers allegedly surrendering near Galwan Valley. Other key associations include Zhang Heqing (@zhang_heqing), China’s Cultural Counsellor at the Chinese embassy in Pakistan, and Hu Xijin (@HuXijin_GT), the former editor-in-chief and party secretary of the Global Times.
Liza Wang, who goes by Twitter handle @ChinaPakWW, is another such account with a massive following. The account usually shares propaganda about CPEC and the China-Pakistan friendship. The profile picture of the account is that of a female military officer, whose reverse image search shows that the photo originated from a Turkish blog whose title translates as “Don’t think it’s a movie frame! China’s secret weapon: female warriors.”
As per SparkToro, 21.4 per cent of the approximately 11,000 followers are populated with fake accounts. Like in the case with @Xinhua_88, this account too receives higher engagement than other accounts that have a similar following. The Logically investigation found that the account interacts largely with Pakistani government officials or accounts that are known for harbouring sympathy with Pakistan or are involved in pushing pro-Pakistani propaganda. It interacts with Pakistan PM Imran Khan, Fawad Chaudhry, the Federal Minister for Information & Broadcasting Government of Pakistan, and the official account of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan.
Interestingly, @ChinaPakWW operated an account that was suspended by Twitter. According to a tweet posted by it, the account was suspended at the behest of “Indian propaganda”. The suspended account reportedly had close to 21,000 followers. OSINT tool Followerwonk showed that the most frequently used words by the account included “Imran Khan”, “Pakistan Army”, “Proud Pakistani” etc. This obviously suggests that the account operator must be someone who harbours loyalty for Pakistan and not a Chinese as the profile picture and the name implies to be.
Another Pakistani social media user masquerading as a Chinese influencer runs a Twitter account called @tangtianru. This account also shares content advocating strong bilateral relations between Pakistan and China. Besides, the account also holds strong anti-Taiwan views, giving an impression that it might be a sockpuppet based out of China.
Intriguingly, this account too has a profile picture of a Chinese woman in a military uniform, a pattern that is becoming increasingly common with Pakistani imposters pretending to be Chinese influencers. The SparkToro analysis says 38.8 per cent of over 10,000 followers of @tangtianru are populated with fake followers.
According to the results of the Twitter analytics tool TruthNest, the initial posts by the account corroborate its link with Pakistan. One of the initial posts made by the account was that of four women at a function called “Pakistani Food Extravaganza”, an event that was hosted by the Pakistani Embassy in Beijing.
The account has interactions mostly with Chinese government officials and accounts that share CCP propaganda. It has significant engagements with the President of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, but most of them are negative in sentiments and spew anti-Taiwan narrative. Besides, the Twitter account has also spread conspiracy theories and fake claims about the Galwan Valley clashes and the Indo-China standoff along the line of control in eastern Ladakh.
Spreading disinformation online has traditionally been a Chinese forte. The Chinese Communist Party(CCP) excels in covering up its inadequacies and fomenting unrest in other countries by fire-hosing social media platforms with disinformation and fake news while using censorship to control the flow of information inside its borders. Pakistan, on the other hand, until now has been a relatively lesser-known entity in terms of inundating social media platforms with its propaganda and misinformation.
However, the curious case of Pakistani imposters pretending to be Chinese social media influencers and disseminating anti-India propaganda demonstrates that the CCP has roped in its most-trusted ally in its information warfare as it seeks to assert its hegemony in increasingly volatile world order.
