Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Honors

Degree Name

General Beadle Honors Program

Department

Computer Science

First Advisor

William Bendix

Abstract

The People's Republic of China (PRC) has increasingly expanded its cyber influence campaigns against democratic states. Scholars largely agree that these campaigns align with the PRC’s broader goal of regional and global hegemony and that the PRC employs a range of cyber strategies to target democratic rivals. However, little research has examined what drives the PRC to adjust its online influence operations. This paper addresses that gap. Specifically, I compare the PRC’s cyber influence campaigns between two democracies to identify the demographic factors shaping its strategic choices. Using a comparative case-study approach, I analyze the PRC's influence efforts in Canada and the United Kingdom, assessing whether the PRC adapts its tactics based on specific domestic conditions in each target state. My findings suggest that the PRC’s primary objective is not to influence election outcomes in rival states. Instead, it seeks to monitor and repress Chinese diaspora communities, and it attempts to undermine confidence in democratic institutions as a means to maintaining its authoritarian legitimacy. The composition of these communities and the political goals of the PRC overwhelmingly shape the nature of its cyber campaigns.

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