Classic Form: Take an idea, institution, or technology that is dead or forgotten (the "corpse") and revive it by infusing it with a new purpose or ideology (the "soul"). This allows you to leverage the legitimacy or familiarity of the old form to advance a new agenda.
Modern Version: Hijack defunct or dormant Western institutions, historical narratives, or social movements to push CCP-aligned narratives. This involves dressing a modern authoritarian agenda in the familiar and trusted language of Western concepts like "anti-colonialism," "social justice," or "progress".
AI-Powered Execution: AI can analyze vast archives of historical and cultural data to identify potent "corpses"—nostalgic brands, dormant but emotionally resonant social movements, or trusted historical figures—that still hold positive sentiment within a target population. It can then craft new propaganda that wraps a modern, authoritarian agenda in the trusted imagery and language of the past. This makes the new message feel legitimate and familiar, lowering cognitive defenses against it. For example, an AI could repurpose old descriptive statistics workflows from a legacy system and integrate them into modern machine learning pipelines, presenting the output as a continuation of trusted methods while fundamentally changing the underlying purpose.
CCP Application: The CCP frequently co-opts the language of Western post-colonial and social justice movements to attack the United States and its allies, portraying its own neo-imperial expansion under the Belt and Road Initiative as a form of "South-South cooperation" and "anti-hegemony". President Xi Jinping repackages Mao-era tactics of mass surveillance and social control as futuristic "progress" and "social governance," borrowing the language of technological optimism to sell a totalitarian soul.
Collaborators: Western activists and academics who adopt and amplify CCP slogans and narratives without understanding their origin or strategic purpose, believing they are advancing a progressive cause. Media outlets that repeat these pre-loaded scripts, failing to recognize that the language of "fairness" or "anti-imperialism" is being used to legitimize an authoritarian regime.
Counter: Vigorously investigate the funding trails and ideological origins of slogans and movements. Expose the "switch" by clearly demonstrating how trusted concepts are being repurposed to serve a hostile agenda. A strong grounding in history is the best inoculation against the resurrection of dead ideologies in new, deceptive forms.