China's alleged propaganda campaign against Rafale jets
Retired Lieutenant General K.J.S. Dhillon claims China used its embassies to push false stories about French Rafale fighter jets after Operation Sindoor.
He says, "Chinese propaganda through their embassies [is] trying to prove that their weapon systems are better than the French systems or Russian systems or Indian systems."
The goal? To make Rafales look bad and influence which jets other countries buy.
How China tried to influence jet-buying countries
According to reports, Chinese defense officials lobbied countries like Indonesia to pick Chinese-made jets over Rafales.
They allegedly used over 1,000 social media accounts—plus doctored images and AI-generated posts—to paint the Rafale as ineffective.
French officials brushed off these efforts, saying it's really about damaging both the jet's reputation and France's image in high-tech defense.
Dhillon's take on China's disinformation tactics
Dhillon is a former head of India's Defence Intelligence Agency with deep experience in military strategy.
He has spoken out on how China uses disinformation as a tool against rivals—and sees this anti-Rafale campaign as just one more example of that playbook.