Former U.S. Natl Security Advisor Warns China, Russia Polarizing Democratic Societies; Ishiba Says Japan Taking Measures to Work with Like-Minded Nation

By Hirotaka Kuriyama and Akihisa Ota / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

2:00 JST, March 13, 2025

Herbert Raymond McMaster, the former national security advisor during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first administration, warned that China and Russia are utilizing cognitive warfare to “polarize democratic societies, pit communities against each other,” in Tokyo on Tuesday.

McMaster gave a keynote speech at a forum, hosted by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and The Yomiuri Shimbun, focusing on cognitive warfare, which is strategy in which information is manipulated to create an advantageous environment, and emphasized the need for cooperation between democratic societies.

McMaster said an “Axis of aggressors, including China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, has coalesced,” and that “Japan and the United States are confronting a more dangerous world.”

“Adversaries will continue to use cognitive warfare to divide us, to diminish our confidence and encourage disengagement,” he added.

He also stressed the importance educating people in order for them to understand the dangers they face.

To counter cognitive warfare, McMaster suggested, “We work together on positive agendas to restore peace, prevent war … and build a better future for generations to come.”

In a video message sent to the forum, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said, “Some countries are engaged in tactics including disseminating disinformation to influence public opinion and the decision-making process of other countries,” with China and Russia mind.

Ishiba said Japan is taking measures through cooperation with like-minded countries.

Disinformation widens global division

As Russia and China spread false information daily in an effort to sow confusion and division in democratic societies, knowing how to identify the source of the information and conveying accurate information to the public was a topic of discussion at the forum.

“Russia has also used its fire hose of falsehood to place responsibility for the war in Ukraine on the victim,” McMaster said about the reality of cognitive warfare.

When Russia began its aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, false information was spread that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had fled the country. It was believed to have been an attempt to stir up anxiety among Ukrainians and demoralize them.

Also, when talks broke down between Trump and Zelenskyy last month, a lot of false information regarding Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian military spread, including a social media post of Zelenskyy swearing at Trump at a press conference.

McMaster called Russian President Vladimir Putin “a master of deceit who duped four U.S. presidents since he took power a quarter a century ago.”

Regarding the Trump administration’s approach to Russia in order to achieve a ceasefire, McMaster said, “Efforts to placate Putin are bound to end in disappointment.”

China’s 3 methods

The forum also discussed a sense of crisis against China’s cognitive warfare.

Taiwan authorities analyzed information and have determined that China might start a Taiwan contingency by launching a cognitive warfare campaign to create public panic.

When China conducted its military exercise in August 2022, a fake photo was released of Chinese Naval vessels operating in waters close to Taiwan. It was believed to have been an attempt to cause anxiety among those living in Taiwan.

Chinese officials were also found to have instructed journalists in Taiwan to report on a fake opinion poll related to the presidential election in Taiwan in January 2024.

Former National Security Secretariat Secretary General Shigeru Kitamura said China fights its battles three ways — through public opinion, psychological warfare and using the law.

“We have to be constantly aware that [China] will use various strategies and take action,” Kitamura said.

Authenticity

McMaster said cognitive warfare being waged by China and Russia was designed to mobilize anger and dissatisfaction to counter the existing order.

According to a Foreign Ministry public opinion survey on diplomacy conducted in February, 73% said they thought that disinformation on international affairs were being spread online. When asked how they checked the accuracy of the information, with multiple answers allowed, the most common response, or 49%, said they checked the information released by the Japanese government, followed by checking Japanese media outlets, at 43%.

The results highlighted the importance of the roles played by the Japanese government and media outlets.

“With 8 billion people around the world connected via smartphones, it’s like being in a small fish tank,” said former Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobukatsu Kanehara. “Disinformation is like dropping poison into that tank.”

Sasakawa Peace Foundation Senior Fellow Jun Osawa said: “You can’t tell if it’s fake just by looking at social media. It’s necessary to inform the public, including who the attacker is.”

Ishiba: OP is ‘effective’

At the forum, there were a number of voices pointing out the usefulness of a digital technology called “Originator Profile (OP),” which is used to identify the disseminators of information on articles and other content on the internet to counter misinformation and disinformation.

Tatsuya Kurosaka, secretary general of the Originator Profile Collaborative Innovation Partnership (OPCIP), an association of 45 organizations including domestic and foreign media, which is developing the technology, emphasized the importance of OP.

“The information providers themselves guarantee the information,” Kurosaka said.

Kurosaka, who also serves as a project associate professor of Keio University added, “This lays the foundation for examining whether the information is truly meaningful.”

In a video message shown at the forum, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed his recognition that OP is “effective technology” for countering disinformation. “There is a need for initiatives to improve the resilience of society as a whole against disinformation,” Ishiba said.

The central and local governments are starting to make use of OP, a technology that enables users to confirm the authenticity of online articles and advertisements by embedding an electronic identifier confirmed by third-party entities in each piece of information. The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry began a trial for using OP when transmitting information in July last year following the spread of false information about the Noto Peninsula Earthquake.

In January, the Tottori prefectural government announced its participation, becoming the first local government in the country to do so. According to the OPCIP, several other local governments have also expressed an interest in the project. OPCIP’s member companies are also moving forward with verification work aimed at the practical application of the technology.

The policy of technological development with OP in mind was included in the agreement of the “Hiroshima AI Process,” in which Japan, as the chair of the Group of Seven nations at that time, led discussions on issues such as the appropriate form of regulation.

Japan has been promoting the development of OP through public-private partnerships, with the aim of achieving international standardization. “It’s meaningless unless it’s used on the internet not only in Japan but around the world,” Kurosaka said.

Katsuhiko Kawazoe, vice president of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) Corp. pointed out that the internet has its limitations. “False information could spread to everyone as if it were real,” Kawazoe said. He explained that NTT’s next-generation communications infrastructure, “IOWN”, which is currently under development, can control false information from generative AI.