Top aides of Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate, have formed a new strategy to counter disinformation and personal attacks against Lai from opposition parties.
Since Lai confirmed his candidacy, opposition parties have been promoting a false narrative that US leaders do not trust him, to sow skepticism at home and abroad, a DPP insider said on condition of anonymity.
The DPP formed an interdepartmental “Task Force to Combat Cognitive Warfare” to coordinate actions and provide a swift response, including clarifying issues, dispelling rumors and limiting damage from disinformation and false reports, the source said.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
“In recent weeks, opposition parties and certain media outlets have again raised the ‘US doubting Lai’ theory and further expanded on it,” the source said.
“It is a continuation of the cognitive warfare from last year, which initially targeted Lai’s family,” claiming that Lai’s two sons have US green cards, to insinuate that they would not serve if war breaks out, the source said.
The opposition also focused on the political wrangling and crime in Tainan in further attempts to undermine Lai, who served as city mayor from 2010 to 2017, the source said.
Quoting other DPP figures, the party source said that after it became apparent that these personal attacks did not have much effect, the opposition turned to disinformation, raising doubts about Lai’s competency on national governance and foreign affairs, and rumors of friction between Lai and President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Lai’s advisers have identified three main tactics that the opposition uses to discredit Lai: tarnishing his image, questioning his governance and foreign affairs acumen, and arousing public anxiety by emphasizing the threat of war, the DPP source said.
The DPP task force is already at work, coordinating efforts between the party’s public information section, new media center and social movements section, as well as working with local chapters and affiliated organizations to monitor and report disinformation, and formulate an immediate response by issuing a statement of clarification or memes that are disseminated through social media, the sources said.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard