Officially, it is called Chinese Army Unit 61716, or Base 311, dubbed “the base of the war of public opinion, of psychological warfare, and of the war of law.” Hidden behind the address of a nearby swimming pool, it was created in 2005 in Fuzhou’s Fujian province, opposite Taiwan. Its role is to centralize psychological warfare operations with the aim of uniting the Taiwanese population with Beijing’s theses. The report published on Monday, September 20 the Strategic Research Institute of the Military School (Irsem), to which the international newsroom of Radio France had access, it brings concrete elements of its operation and its two-headed command composed of military and political commissars. Base personnel are usually presented as researchers or engineers.
/2021/09/19/php00ef6a.png "FRANCE INFO. Base 311, Beijing War of Influence HQ")
“Engineers write privately on subjects related to computer security issues, network communications and other technical matters, specifies the report. Researchers, however, write on topics related to public opinion warfare and psychological warfare. “ They also work on topics related to artificial intelligence. Base 311 has been part of the Army’s Strategic Support Force since 2015, which also covers space and electronic warfare.
In their war of influence, again according to the report, “Base 311 mobilizes three types of organizations: front companies in the media sector, units of the People’s Liberation Army subordinate to it, as well as relay platforms with which links are more fragile and vague.”
This set forms an extensive and opaque nebula. “Base 311 operates using companies that make up its civilian facades, including China Huayi Broadcasting Corporation (CHBC) or Voice of the Straits (VTS)” , we can read in the report. This multi-channel media targets the population of Taiwan and the United States in particular.
Other covert units are affiliated with base 311, in particular unit 61070, which is a propaganda center for the network. It is located near base 311.
And so, China uses battalions of relay platforms, NGOs, civil structures that gravitate in the orbit of base 311. “They have in common, we can read in the report, to serve as a relay for the operations of influence of the People’s Republic of China or, at least, to facilitate them”.
The best known are the Chinese Association for International Friendly Contact (CAIFC) and the Chinese Association for the Promotion of Chinese Culture (CAPCC). “CAIFC’s mode of action is to make contact and cultivate relationships with elite members from foreign countries, especially in the defense sector”., write the report. The 311 base is a key part of China’s new influence strategy, which has strengthened considerably in recent years. “Your methods seem more and more, completes the IRSEM report, for those employed by Moscow. ” And the Chinese student has undoubtedly surpassed the Russian master today…