The CCP’s ‘Divide & Conquer’ Strategy in Europe

David Vives
By David Vives
December 19, 2020NTD Evening News
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A leak revealed the identity of almost 2 million Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members, some of them in foreign companies. This raises concerns about economic infiltration in the United States. In Europe, too, the CCP is looking to apply a long-term “divide and conquer” agenda.

The study of these leaks demonstrates how foreign companies can be controlled by Chinese interests.

French author Olivier Piacentini writes about Globalization and China. He says this leak makes it possible to measure the extent of the CCP’s subversion of Western institutions.

“In April, according to a CCP outlet the Global Times, the West was very impaired and it was now the time to conquer it,” said Piacentini.

He says one way to do it is to take control of a country’s businesses, one by one.

One telling example of the CCP’s strategy is to own businesses in a target country.

“Speaking about economic infiltration, some politicians in Europe play the role of a Pilot Fish. That means through their network or connection, they are providing help for CCP members to purchase this business or that business in their country,” said Piacentini.

Author Mareike Ohlberg said in August that Britain is Europe’s number one target for the CCP.

She says that Chinese companies such as Huawei have been able to succeed in Britain by establishing local stakeholders on the ground.

She also revealed the CCP had been offering jobs in Chinese firms to ex-British government workers.

The same scenario happened in France, according to Piacentini.

“Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has a law firm. Among his clients are large Chinese groups who want to buy companies in France, and he uses his address book he made himself, and the same situation was repeated in Italy with Romano Prodi,” said Piacentini.

Piacentini said this is also a part of the “Divide and Conquer” strategy. A long-term process until the CCP can take hold of sensitive companies in a foreign country.

He said the divide part took effect when the CCP virus wave struck Europe in April.

“There is the game of China to play on the divisions of the West, we saw it when they supported Italy by bringing them masks and supplies in April. At this time, Italians felt abandoned by the European Union, then we saw they replaced by the European flag by the Chinese flag out of bitterness in some City Hall in the country,” said Piacentini.

In Britain, the divide and conquer strategy also seems to be taking advantage of Brexit.

According to Ohlberg, there was a “consensus that if post-Brexit Britain is to succeed it absolutely needs China” as stakeholders.

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