The moment the authors mentioned “the US government’s National Endowment for Democracy,” I knew this piece (originally from 2010) was written by apologists for the CCP. The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Yes, most of its funding comes from an annual Congressional appropriation, but the U.S. Congress has no say in how the NED disburses those funds. Authoritarian regimes have claimed that the NED is a front for the CIA, but the NED has no field offices abroad and does not solicit organizations to apply for grants. Conspiratorial rhetoric is the tool countries like China, Russia, and Turkey use to keep organizations like the NED from supporting grassroots civil society organizations at home.
I could make a point-by-point rebuttal of every argument in this piece, but the point about the NED is the red flag.
Anne Henochowicz <annemh@alumni.upenn.edu>