China investing "unprecedented resources" in disinformation, surveillance tactics, new report says

China's government is investing "unprecedented resources" in a range of disinformation, surveillance and censorship tactics it uses in efforts to shape international narratives in its favor among foreign audiences around the world, a new report released Thursday by the State Department said.  

"As the [People's Republic of China] has grown more confident in its power, it appears to have calculated that it can more aggressively pursue its interests via information manipulation," the report, compiled by the department's Global Engagement Center, said. 

It warned that some of the methods Beijing has honed and is spending billions on annually are "deceptive and coercive," use false or biased claims, or involve technologically-enabled tracking or suppression techniques to stifle criticism of its policies or political leadership.