How Democracies Resist China’s Coercive Influence, The Case of Colombia

How can middle countries craft more effective policies to resist China’s efforts to undermine democracy? Using Colombia as a country case study, this project examines the tactics middle countries have developed to resist the corrosive effects of Beijing’s coercive engagement. China wants middle countries to eschew Western liberal democracy in favor of learning from its illiberal political system. Through a combination of economic inducements and intimidation Chinese interlocutors leverage the PRC’s greater power and resources to gain influence over a smaller country’s policymakers and thought leaders. This research looks at how these nations are fortifying their democracies at home. It encourages them to come together to share best practices with an eye towards constraining Beijing’s ongoing efforts to undermine the liberal rules-based order and replace it with a Sinocentric one that Xi Jinping calls the “Community of Shared Future for Mankind.” This case study is part of a larger structured focused comparison that examines responses to China’s illiberal influence in five diverse middle countries.