Information War: China Instrumentalizes Dissident Voices from Taiwan against the Island

While Chinese warships and fighter jets conducted massive exercises around Taiwan in December, a parallel action was unfolding on smartphone screens.

On Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, a media controlled by the Chinese Communist Party posted 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 of us, the 23 million people in Taiwan, into a “dead-end path, a road 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), the main opposition party, 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 disseminates them massively 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 for consumption on popular platforms in Taiwan, including Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, as well as on Douyin, sometimes embellished or presented in a way to obscure Beijing’s hand.

While China has previously used Taiwanese personalities in its propaganda, it has intensified this information warfare tactic, according to security officials. The goal is to discredit a government that Beijing accuses of independence ambitions, these officials clarify. Additionally, as the DPP seeks an additional $40 billion in defense spending, the campaign also seems aimed at convincing 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 China Taiwan Affairs Office and the Ministry of Defense did not respond to requests for comment on this information war.

The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense stated to Reuters that they are combating a massive increase in Chinese “cognitive warfare” by strengthening 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.”

Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, which are blocked in China, did not respond to questions about Chinese information warfare. Douyin also did not respond to a request for comment.

China considers Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out using military force to take it. The Taiwanese government rejects China’s sovereignty claims, asserting 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 as a “separatist.”

As Chinese preparations for military action against Taiwan continue, information warfare is part of Beijing’s strategy to wear down Taiwan without resorting to force. In this regard, the KMT offers a valuable opening to China: the party has sought to establish closer ties with Beijing to prevent what it deems a crisis exacerbated by the DPP’s provocation towards China.

Ms. Cheng, KMT leader, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping this month in Beijing, where Mr. Xi told her that the KMT and Communist Party should “consolidate mutual political trust” and “unite to create a bright future of national unification.”

In a statement to Reuters, the KMT stated that Ms. Cheng’s visit to Beijing fulfilled a campaign promise and followed a long-standing tradition of high-level meetings between the KMT and the Communist Party. Both parties have many disagreements but believe that disputes should be resolved through dialogue.

SOCIAL MEDIA AS A BATTLEFIELD

Data provided to Reuters by the IORG, also known as the Taiwan Information Environment Research Center, revealed the inner workings of the Chinese campaign. This nonpartisan group of sociologists and data analysts is partially funded by the US and European governments, as well as academic institutions in Taiwan.

Approximately 560,000 videos were published on Douyin by 1,076 accounts maintained by official Communist Party media in the fourth quarter of 2025. Around 18,000 videos were about Taiwan. IORG used facial recognition technology to identify 57 Taiwanese personalities in 2,730 clips, with 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, with monthly airtime increasing by 164% to 369 minutes.

Notably, 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 previous KMT governments. Two others are executives of a small party in favor of unification with China, while 10 are influencers known for their critiques of the ruling DPP.

Ms. Cheng, the 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’s position on Taiwanese independence as destructive. Once broadcast on state media and Chinese social networks, some clips were repackaged and published on popular platforms in Taiwan.

In a statement, the KMT claimed that Ms. Cheng’s comments reflected the dominant aspirations of the Taiwanese people for peace. “Even if mainland state media tend to integrate more Taiwanese voices, this is based on the diversity of public opinion that already exists in Taiwan,” they added.

Several influencers were also widely quoted in Chinese media, including popular bodybuilder Holger Chen Chih-han among the younger audience and five retired senior military officers known for their criticisms of the DPP and defense of Taiwan.

“Wishing the homeland a happy birthday,” Mr. Chen said during a live YouTube stream in late September, before the Chinese national holiday. Brief excerpts from the show, in which he also stated that the peoples 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 request for comment.

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

The claim about Chinese drones approaching Taiwan first appeared in a video on a social media account run by the Chinese military, according to IORG. The Taiwanese 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 mindful of public perception” and should not echo Beijing’s rhetoric. Moreover, they “should not forget the loyalty oath they made” to Taiwan.

PSYCHOLOGICAL TARGETING

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

It is uncertain whether China’s intensified information war will have an impact. No notable change in Taiwanese attitudes towards independence or unification has been observed since 2024, according to data from the annual survey. This period roughly aligns with the phase of intensified information warfare examined by IORG. The DPP, China’s main political antagonist in Taiwan, 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 aimed at undermining morale, instilling a sense of psychological despair, convincing people that they have no future as autonomous beings, and that their best option is to join China,” said Bonnie Glaser, director of the Indo-Pacific program at the US German Marshall Fund, a think tank funded by the US and European governments as well as technology and defense companies.

Taiwan’s intelligence services identified over 45,000 sets of inauthentic social media accounts and 2.3 million disinformation elements on Sino-Taiwanese issues last year, according to a January report from Taiwan’s National Security Bureau. It describes Beijing’s information warfare goals: exacerbating divisions within Taiwan, weakening Taiwanese resistance, and gaining support for the Chinese 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,” said a Taiwanese security official regarding Chinese state media.

A civil defense handbook distributed by the Taiwan government to households last year went as far as to preemptively state that, in a context of increased tensions with China, any claim of Taiwan surrender should be considered false – a recognition that the information battle is intensifying, even if no shots have been fired.