The battle for public opinion begins long before any shot is fired. Governments worldwide are well aware of this, and none more so than authoritarian regimes like China and Russia, who dwell in fear of a discontent populace. Having perfected their propaganda techniques internally, global ambitions have led them to launch influence campaigns against their rivals.
For those far away, the attempts seem laughable. US voters are likely familiar with stilted English and awkward memes vaulted their way by Russia in the past few election cycles, concerning in their number but easily spotted.
Yet for those nearer, the effects can be more destabilizing. Shared language and culture allow for more sophisticated messaging and a sense of camaraderie that is hard to dismiss. Russia’s extensive charm offensive in Ukraine had worked prior to 2014. A Pew Global Attitudes poll in 2011 found that over 80 percent of Ukrainians had a favorable view of Russia. Russia’s annexation of Crimea dramatically altered this view; a similar poll conducted in 2014 found that only 35 percent held a favorable view.
The same could be said of Taiwan. The simple fact of a shared language means that China-created content will enjoy greater reach, whether obvious and deliberate misinformation, or as reasonably argued thought pieces on the importance of cooperation. It also means that Taiwan’s uphill battle to counter Chinese influence is much steeper than it might seem — and it already appears insurmountable. After all, in Ukraine it took an invasion to break the spell.
At the World Federation of Taiwanese Associations’ annual conference in Vilnius on Sunday, Kuma Academy cofounder Puma Shen (沈伯洋) exposed just how far behind Taiwan is in its efforts to break the spell. Citing one of his organization’s surveys, he said that fewer than 20 percent of Taiwanese believe that most misinformation comes from abroad. Among them, only about 30 percent named China; another 20 percent each naming the US and Japan, though “nothing can be further from the truth.” With the rise of artificial intelligence, Taiwan only stands to fall further behind as Chinese tactics grow more sophisticated.
To Shen, most concerning are the internal divisions within Taiwanese society, eroding people’s willingness to resist China. Without a catalyst, “I’m afraid it will take decades, but China won’t give us decades,” he said.
One speech attendee was surprised there could still be such stark divisions, even as other democracies are consolidating under their mistrust of China. This stands to prove Taiwan’s informational isolation from allies, with an inward-facing media landscape easily mired in political infighting. Add to that China’s influence, and it is easy to lose sight of the existential threat looming from across the Strait.
Important fact-checking efforts aside, one of Taiwan’s most powerful tools is also one of its most overlooked. Amplifying voices from like-minded countries is how Taiwan’s supporters can counter the megaphone from across the Strait, and no group is better suited to that task than Taiwanese expats.
Their voices can resonate with their compatriots on a level that those of international media and diplomats cannot, while serving as a bridge to communicate Taiwan’s perspective abroad, generating global support on a grassroots level. The Vilnius conference is a wonderful example of the enthusiasm of the Taiwanese diaspora, as well as its ability to organize and communicate complexity. Despite being only a small hill among the mountains of efforts needed to counter China’s influence, their contributions should not be overlooked.
What began on Feb. 28 as a military campaign against Iran quickly became the largest energy-supply disruption in modern times. Unlike the oil crises of the 1970s, which stemmed from producer-led embargoes, US President Donald Trump is the first leader in modern history to trigger a cascading global energy crisis through direct military action. In the process, Trump has also laid bare Taiwan’s strategic and economic fragilities, offering Beijing a real-time tutorial in how to exploit them. Repairing the damage to Persian Gulf oil and gas infrastructure could take years, suggesting that elevated energy prices are likely to persist. But the most
In late January, Taiwan’s first indigenous submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), completed its first submerged dive, reaching a depth of roughly 50m during trials in the waters off Kaohsiung. By March, it had managed a fifth dive, still well short of the deep-water and endurance tests required before the navy could accept the vessel. The original delivery deadline of November last year passed months ago. CSBC Corp, Taiwan, the lead contractor, now targets June and the Ministry of National Defense is levying daily penalties for every day the submarine remains unfinished. The Hai Kun was supposed to be
The Legislative Yuan on Friday held another cross-party caucus negotiation on a special act for bolstering national defense that the Executive Yuan had proposed last year. The party caucuses failed to reach a consensus on several key provisions, so the next session is scheduled for today, where many believe substantial progress would finally be made. The plan for an eight-year NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.59 billion) special defense budget was first proposed by the Cabinet in November last year, but the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers have continuously blocked it from being listed on the agenda for
On Tuesday last week, the Presidential Office announced, less than 24 hours before he was scheduled to depart, that President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned official trip to Eswatini, Taiwan’s sole diplomatic ally in Africa, had been delayed. It said that the three island nations of Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar had, without prior notice, revoked the charter plane’s overflight permits following “intense pressure” from China. Lai, in his capacity as the Republic of China’s (ROC) president, was to attend the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession. King Mswati visited Taiwan to attend Lai’s inauguration in 2024. This is the first
RSS