Description
This article develops the concept of autocracy commercialisation by examining how tifa (提法) - fixed political formulations - act as discursive borders that circulate authoritarian practices beyond China’s borders. Often seen as instruments of domestic ideological control, tifa also function transnationally, framing China’s political system as structured, coherent, and exportable. By codifying state-approved meanings, they make authoritarian governance appear both understandable and appealing to external audiences. The analysis focuses on tifa deployed in China’s responses to episodes of political unrest in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. These moments of instability in neighbouring authoritarian regimes create opportunities for Beijing to reassert the appeal and adaptability of its own governance model. Drawing on Chinese official discourse, the article traces how tifa are mobilised across different registers of foreign-facing communication. Using an interpretive, narrative-based, and comparative approach, it classifies tifa by function and examines how they contribute to the transnational commercialisation of China’s governance model.
