美国国务卿蓬佩奥最常用于批评中国的一个术语是“假消息（disinformation）”。比如蓬佩奥在7月15日的一个新闻发布会上说：“我听到一些从中国传出来的说法，一些假消息。”

此前，这个术语被美国用于形容俄罗斯涉嫌利用社交媒体宣传干涉美国总统大选，现在蓬佩奥开始用这一术语抨击中国。

从中国应对疫情的措施到出台香港国安法，美国不放过一切给中国挂上“假消息”标签的机会。奇怪的是，中国学者很少深入研究这个术语的意思。官方发言也只是就事论事的做反应。

由于汉语话语体系里面很少出现这个词，中国学者甚至在微信群里争论如何将该词翻译为中文，一个最简单的理解就是将其视为名词，即“假消息”或“虚假信息”的意思。

虽然在英语中是名词，但作者认为，在翻译成汉语时，开展信息欺骗行动的全过程都应当呈现出来。笔者倾向于使用“信息欺骗行动”，具体是指以误导舆论和民众为目的有组织、系统性的通过社交媒体传播编造虚假信息，针对中国而言这一切说到底就是逢中必反。

蓬佩奥不放过任何指责中国制造假消息的机会

以这个基本认知为基础，就不难看出这样的事实，美国至少从新冠病毒病疫情开始就在开展信息欺骗行动，说新冠病毒是在武汉的实验室制造出来的。当然这则假消息很容易被识破，因为包括美国在内的多国专家就此写了不少研究报告。

美国情报信息来源提供了其开展此类行动的更多真实依据。独立新闻网站《每日野兽》披露白宫发起了一个跨多个联邦部门的宣传计划，试图指责中国瞒报以及制造全球疫情。这个信息欺骗行动指导原则包含于发送给美国国务院的一则电报中，最终被美国媒体所披露。

有趣的是这些宣传要点似乎源于美国国家安全委员会。电报的一个章节写到：“国家安全委员会头条：（关于中国）武汉病毒疫情宣传和假信息指导”。电报明确使用“假消息”这一术语本身就说明了问题。考虑到美国国家安全委员会是美国行政部门的最高国安机构，很显然，这场信息欺骗行动是有组织和系统性以自上而下的方式开展的。

其他实证包括被广泛报道的共和党参议院全国委员会起草的长达57页的共和党备忘录，其中传播策略是共和党候选人将新冠疫情归咎于中国，并坚持“中国病毒”这个词汇不是种族歧视。

美国开展信息欺骗行动的组织性、计划性也反映在特朗普政府组织的对中国的一系列抨击当中，近期以来几乎每天组织内阁阁僚级官员发表抨击中国的演说，已经发表演说的包括国务卿蓬佩奥、国防部长马克·埃斯珀和司法部长威廉·巴尔以及联邦调查局长克里斯托弗·雷。特朗普在这方面倒是丝毫不做掩饰，因为有些演讲安排都事先公布了。

而美国对于中国的指责几乎没有任何证据。美国对于新冠病毒的起源和华为5G构成的国安威胁都没有提供任何证据。美国驻华大使馆和领事馆因为涉及“奴隶劳工”修图风波而遭到网民的强烈批评。美国国会开展听证会，除脸书外谷歌、微软、亚马逊三家企业高管均否认中国偷窃美国高科技。

然而，证据的匮乏并没有阻止很多西方人相信美国的假消息。由于这些受众拥有与美国相同的民主意识形态和价值观，因此美国说的任何故事都会被轻易接受，尽管它们是谎言。

同样，由于凭借这种价值观和身份认同，西方对于美国给予更大的容忍度。当美国驻华大使馆在编造奴隶劳工故事的时候，联合国人权理事会正在审查特别报告员阿涅丝·卡拉马尔关于武装无人机和定点清除的报告，报告明显显示美国刺杀伊朗卡西姆·苏莱曼尼将军违反了联合国宪章和其他相关国际法，然而，无论是出于有意还是无意，国际社会总体选择了对此保持沉默。

卡拉马尔说：“很难相信，如果类似的袭击发生在西方将领身上不会被视为战争行为。”当美国退出许多联合国条约的时候也被给予同样的纵容。

最后，很多人认为信息欺骗行动只不过是个公关措施，限于传播宣传领域。笔者认为，美国已经将信息欺骗行动融入美国对华采取的所有领域和层面的对抗，不管是贸易战还是南海纠纷。

以美国改变此前对南海的中立立场为例，其指控中国的一切所谓“劣迹”都不是新的南海冲突点，所有事件只不过是反映了中国与其海上邻居数百年来就已存在的分歧和争议。然而，白宫新的政策文件刻意夸大渲染紧张局势，目的就是为了营造中国采取侵略性、威胁性行动的假象。这些指控到头来最多只会短期威胁中国发展所需的和平环境，但不会改变南海的地缘政治。

美国的信息欺骗行动可能会减缓中国的发展并在一定程度上破坏中国的战略机遇期。然而，美国人民也很难免于遭到伤害。无论美国把什么样的安威胁安置到中国头上，美国人民最大的敌人现在是新冠病毒。特朗普政府把越多的资源和精力投入到遏制中国上面，其用于照顾急需帮助的美国人民的资源和精力就越少，毕竟疫情还远未结束。

同样的道理也适用于亚洲各国人民。无论美国在信息欺骗行动中如何描述中国，事实仍然是，中国是第一个其崛起不是建立在殖民主义、奴隶制或种族灭绝之上的国家，而是建立在努力工作、良好的经济和有效治理之上。与美国连年发动战争不同，从最后一次与越南发生冲突到现在中国没有开过一枪。对于任何一个国家而言，越是听信美国的假消息并跟随美国一起遏制中国，就越有可能错失发展自己的良机。

英文原文发表于China US Focus, 链接如下：https://www.chinausfocus.com/foreign-policy/us-campaign-of-lies-at-full-throttle；经授权中文译文发表于观察者网，链接如下：https://m.guancha.cn/tianshichen/2020_08_05_560101.shtml。

英文原文如下：

U.S. Campaign of Lies at Full Throttle

Jul 29 , 2020

One of the frequent terms used by U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to criticize China is “disinformation.”

“I listen to some of the narrative that flows out of China, some of the disinformation,” Pompeo said in a news conference on July 15.

Before that, the term was used by the United States to describe Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election through social media propaganda. Now it has been picked up by Pompeo to bash China.

From China’s handling of pandemic to the national security legislation for Hong Kong, the U.S. has missed no opportunity to blast China with the disinformation label. What’s strange is that Chinese scholars seldom dig into the meaning of this term. Official statements only respond to it on a case-by-case basis.

There was even a debate in WeChat group discussions among Chinese scholars about how to translate it into Chinese. A simple understanding is to treat it as a noun meaning false information (假信息或虚假信息). Although it’s a noun in English, the author is of the opinion that the whole process of conducting a disinformation campaign should be expressed fully when translating it into Chinese. The author prefers that it denote the operation of conducting a false campaign (信息欺骗行动). Its purpose is to fabricate information intended to mislead public opinion through the systematic delivery of propaganda on social media. Its guiding principle boils down to opposing China on all fronts, no matter what China does.

Taking this understanding as a starting point, it is not difficult to establish the fact that the U.S. has been conducting a systematic disinformation campaign against China at least from the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic with the allegation that it was manufactured in a laboratory in Wuhan. This disinformation is easy to discredit since there have been numerous scientific reports on this topic, including by experts in the United States.

More hard evidence of the campaign comes from U.S. intelligence sources. One article published by The Daily Beast, an independent news website, disclosed that the White House was launching a communications plan across multiple federal agencies to accuse Beijing of orchestrating a cover-up and creating the global pandemic. This disinformation guideline was contained in a cable sent to the State Department and disclosed in U.S. media reports.

One interesting thing is that the talking points appear to have originated with the White House’s National Security Council. One section of the cable reads “NSC Top Lines: [People’s Republic of China] Propaganda and Disinformation on the Wuhan Virus Pandemic.” The overt use of the term “disinformation” in the cable is telling. Given that the NSC is the top security institution in the U.S. executive branch, it is crystal clear that the disinformation campaign is systematic and well organized in a top-down approach.

Other hard evidence is the widely reported 57-page Republican memo orchestrated by the National Republican Senatorial Committee. The messaging strategy was that Republican candidates should blame China for the COVID-19 pandemic and insist that the term “Chinese virus” isn’t racist.

The organization and planning of the U.S. disinformation campaign are reflected as well in a series of Trump administration broadsides against China — a virtual daily occurrence, with speeches on China given by cabinet-level officials from Pompeo to Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Attorney General Bill Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray. The Trump administration is transparent to some extent, as it has released those speeches well in advance.

There is barely any evidence, if any at all, for the U.S. accusations against China. Neither with the origin of coronavirus nor the supposed Huawei 5G national security threat has the U.S. provided any evidence. In the latest manipulated image of the “slave labor” scandal, the U.S. embassy and consulates in China have drawn a major backlash from netizens.

Yet, the lack of evidence does not prevent many in the West from believing the U.S. disinformation. The targets share the ideology and values of democracy, so any stories told by the U.S. are easily accepted, even though they are lies.

For the same reason, the West also has more tolerance toward the U.S. When the U.S. embassy in China was fabricating its slave labor story, the UN Human Rights Council was reviewing Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard’s new report on armed drones and targeted killings, which clearly showed that the U.S. had violated the UN Charter and other international law by its assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. But the international community, willingly or not, stands largely silent.

“It is hard to imagine that a similar strike against a Western military leader would not be considered an act of war,” Callamard said — not to mention that the same tolerance also applies to the U.S. withdrawal from numerous multilateral UN treaties.

Finally, most people think the disinformation campaign is only a PR tactic and applies mainly in the communication field. The author holds that this approach is integrated into all US confrontations against China at all levels, be it the trade war or the South China Sea.

Take the U.S. change of neutrality in its South China Sea policy, for instance. None of the so-called misdeeds allegedly perpetrated by China are new flashpoints in the South China Sea. All the incidents reflect century-old differences and disputes between China and its maritime neighbors. However, the White House’s new policy paper hypes up tensions for the purpose of building up the false perception that China is aggressive and threatening. Such allegations only end up jeopardizing the peaceful environment that China needs in its development and do not change in any way the geopolitical status quo of the South China Sea.

The U.S. disinformation campaign may slow China’s development and to some extent break up its strategic window of opportunity. However, the American people are not immune from damage. Whatever security threat it attributes to China, the biggest enemy for the American people is now the pandemic. The more resources and energy the Trump administration puts into containing China, the less it has for taking care of the American people, who are in desperate need of help. The pandemic is far from over.

The same applies to the peoples of Asian countries. Regardless how the U.S. describes China in its disinformation campaign, it remains a fact that China is the first country whose rise is not built on colonialism, slavery or genocide, but rather on hard work, good economics and effective governance. Unlike the U.S., which seems to be at constant war, China has not fired a single bullet since its last spat with Vietnam. The more a state believes in U.S. disinformation and follows the U.S. lead in trying to contain China, the less opportunity it has to develop itself.

Captain (Retired) Tian Shichen, a senior research fellow, is Vice-President of the Grandview Institution and Director of the Centre for International Law of Military Operations in Beijing. He is also a China Forum Expert.