Information war: China instrumentalizes dissident voices from Taiwan against the island

While Chinese warships and fighter jets were conducting massive exercises around Taiwan in December, a parallel action was taking place on smartphone screens.

On Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, a media controlled by the Chinese Communist Party published a 51-second video showing Taiwanese opposition figure Cheng Li-wun accusing President Lai Ching-te of provoking Chinese aggression. According to Ms. Cheng, Mr. Lai is leading all 23 million of us in Taiwan into a deadlock, a path to death by pursuing independence. The clip quickly surfaced on Facebook, YouTube, and other popular platforms in Taiwan.

Chinese state media are increasingly amplifying Taiwanese criticisms of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), including those from influencers and politicians linked to the Kuomintang (KMT), according to five Taiwanese security officials and data from the IORG research group based in Taipei consulted by Reuters.

China imports public statements from KMT leaders and other opposition figures critical of the Taiwanese government, then broadcasts them widely through an anti-DPP message stream in state media and on Chinese social networks, according to these data and sources. These sequences are then reshared and often repackaged to be consumed on popular platforms in Taiwan, including Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Douyin, sometimes embellished or presented in a way to obscure Beijing’s hand.

The goal is to discredit a government that Beijing accuses of independence ambitions, these officials specify. While the DPP is seeking an additional $40 billion in defense spending, the campaign also seems to aim to convince Taiwanese that China’s military power is so overwhelming that it is futile for Taiwan to invest heavily in purchasing American weapons, according to the IORG and three security officials.

The Taiwan Affairs Office of China and the Ministry of Defense did not respond to requests for comment on this information war.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense stated to Reuters that it is combating a massive increase in Chinese “cognitive warfare” by enhancing the media skills and psychological resilience of the armed forces. President Lai’s office added that peace across the strait must be “built on strength, not on concessions to authoritarian pressure.”

Social media platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, which are blocked in China, did not respond to questions regarding Chinese information warfare. Douyin also did not respond to a comment request.

China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has not ruled out using military force to take it over. Taiwan’s government rejects China’s sovereignty claims, stating that it is already an independent country called the Republic of China, its official name. Beijing refuses to engage with the DPP administration and labels Mr. Lai a “separatist.”

While Chinese preparations for military action against Taiwan continue, information warfare is part of Beijing’s strategy to weaken Taiwan without resorting to force. In this regard, the KMT offers a valuable opening to China: the party has sought closer ties with Beijing to prevent what it calls a crisis exacerbated by the DPP government’s provocations against China.

Ms. Cheng, KMT leader, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing this month, where Mr. Xi stated that the KMT and the Communist Party must “consolidate mutual political trust” and “unite to create a bright future for the reunification of the motherland.”

In a statement to Reuters, the KMT asserted that Ms. Cheng’s visit to Beijing fulfilled a campaign promise and was part of a long-standing tradition of high-level meetings between the KMT and the Communist Party. The two parties have numerous disagreements, but both believe that disputes should be resolved through dialogue, it added.

SOCIAL MEDIA AS A BATTLEGROUND

Data provided to Reuters by IORG, also known as the Taiwan Information Environment Research Center, reveals the inner workings of the Chinese campaign. This non-partisan group of sociologists and data analysts is partly funded by the U.S. and European governments, as well as academic institutions in Taiwan.

About 560,000 videos were published on Douyin by 1,076 accounts managed by official media of the Communist Party in the fourth quarter of 2025. Approximately 18,000 videos dealt with Taiwan. IORG used facial recognition technology to identify 57 Taiwanese personalities in 2,730 clips, with the results verified by IORG researchers and examined by Reuters.

The number of videos featuring Taiwanese voices more than doubled from the previous year in October and November, while monthly airtime surged by 164% to reach 369 minutes.

Significantly, among the top 25 Taiwanese personalities featured in Chinese videos, 13 are affiliated with the KMT, ranging from current legislators and party representatives to former officials under past KMT governments. Others include executives from a small party favoring unification with China, while 10 are influencers known for criticizing the DPP in power.

Ms. Cheng, KMT leader, was the most cited Taiwanese personality in Chinese clips, appearing in 460 videos across 68 Douyin accounts and generating over five million interactions (likes, comments, and shares). The videos amplified her calls for “peace” with China, criticism of President Lai as a “pawn” of external forces, and her description of the DPP stance on Taiwan’s independence as destructive. Once broadcast on state media and Chinese social networks, some clips were repackaged and published on popular platforms in Taiwan.

In its statement, the KMT stated that Ms. Cheng’s comments reflected the prevailing aspirations of the Taiwanese people for peace. “Even though mainland state media tends to integrate more Taiwanese voices, it rests on the diversity of public opinion that already exists in Taiwan,” it added.

Various influencers were also widely cited by Chinese media. Among them is Holger Chen Chih-han, a popular bodybuilder with young audiences, and five retired high-ranking military officers known for their criticism of the DPP and defense of Taiwan.

“Happy Birthday, Motherland,” Mr. Chen declared during a YouTube livestream at the end of September, before the Chinese national holiday. Short excerpts of the broadcast, in which he also stated that the people of Taiwan and China are “one family,” were later shared by Chinese state media, including China News Service.

Mr. Chen did not respond to a comment request.

In a video released by China News Service, former Taiwanese army colonel Lai Yueh-chien claimed that Chinese drones had “entered” Taiwan undetected during military exercises in December. Mr. Lai also suggested that China could carry out a decapitation strike against “independence leaders” while they slept. The video quickly appeared on Facebook and YouTube.

The claim about Chinese drones approaching Taiwan first appeared in a video published on a social media account managed by the Chinese military, according to IORG. Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense denied the allegation regarding the drones.

China News Service did not respond to Reuters’ questions. Lai Yueh-chien declined to comment on his presence in Chinese state media.

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council told Reuters that the government hoped retired military officers “would be attentive to public perception” and should not echo Beijing’s rhetoric. Furthermore, they “must not forget the oath of loyalty they pledged” to Taiwan.

PSYCHOLOGICAL TARGETING

Support in Taiwan for maintaining the status quo indefinitely has increased by eight points to reach 33.5% since 2020, while support for maintaining the status quo with a shift toward independence has decreased by nearly four points to stand at 21.9%, according to a long-standing annual survey published in January by the National Chengchi University’s Election Study Center in Taiwan. The combined proportion of those wishing for unification with China as soon as possible or maintaining the status quo with a shift toward unification has remained relatively stable, around 7%.

It is uncertain whether the intensified information war waged by China will have an impact. No notable changes in Taiwanese attitudes toward independence or unification have been observed since 2024, according to data from the annual survey. This period roughly coincides with the phase of information warfare intensification examined by IORG. The DPP, Taiwan’s main political antagonist to China, lost its parliamentary majority in 2024 but has won the last three presidential elections.

Nevertheless, this barrage of messages “creates an environment in which China can more easily gain support, as its strategy is actually to undermine morale, instill a sense of psychological despair, convince people that they have no future as autonomous entities, and that their best option is to join China,” said Bonnie Glaser, director of the Indo-Pacific Program at the U.S. German Marshall Fund, a think tank funded by the U.S. and European governments as well as technology and defense companies.

Taiwan’s intelligence services have identified over 45,000 sets of inauthentic social media accounts and 2.3 million misinformation incidents on China-Taiwan issues last year, according to a January report from Taiwan’s National Security Bureau. It describes Beijing’s information warfare goals: exacerbate divisions within Taiwan, weaken Taiwanese resistance will, and gain support for China’s position.

“They want you to doubt the army and doubt Taiwan, to give you the impression that no one will come to help you if war breaks out,” a Taiwanese security official said regarding Chinese state media.

A civil defense manual distributed to households by Taiwan’s government last year even preemptively stipulated that, in a context of heightened tensions with China, any claim of Taiwan’s surrender must be considered false – a recognition that the information battle is escalating, even if no shots have been fired.