Reuters: China Wages Information Warfare Against Taiwan Using Local Voices
According to Reuters, China is waging information warfare against Taiwan by using local voices through platforms like TikTok and YouTube. The objective is to smear the Taiwanese government and undermine its defense capabilities.
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- 📰 Published: April 17, 2026 at 22:27
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Taipei, April 17 (Combined Reports) -- Reuters reported that while the Chinese military conducted large-scale exercises around Taiwan in December last year, it simultaneously launched a psychological offensive through smartphone screens. Using social media platforms such as "Douyin" and YouTube, China has been employing Taiwanese local voices to wage information warfare against Taiwan.
According to a Reuters report, a news media outlet under the Chinese Communist Party published a 51-second video on Douyin, featuring Kuomintang (KMT) Chairperson Sylvia Chang accusing Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te of provoking Chinese aggression.
Chang claimed in December last year that President Lai, by pursuing Taiwanese independence, "is leading this dead-end path to the very end, implicating 23 million Taiwanese people." This video quickly appeared on popular Taiwanese social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube.
According to five Taiwanese security officials and data provided to Reuters by the Information Resource Center (IORG) Taiwan, Chinese state media are increasingly amplifying internal criticism of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taiwan, including voices from KMT-affiliated influencers and politicians.
Based on this data and sources, China utilizes public statements criticizing the Taiwanese government from KMT and other opposition figures, and disseminates a large volume of anti-DPP information through Chinese state media and social platforms.
These videos are subsequently forwarded and often repackaged on popular Taiwanese social media platforms, including Facebook, Douyin, its overseas version TikTok, and YouTube, sometimes modified or presented in a way that conceals Chinese involvement.
While China has used Taiwanese figures for propaganda in the past, it has significantly intensified this information warfare tactic. Taiwanese security officials point out that familiar voices and accents make the content more credible to the public.
These officials emphasized that China's goal is to discredit the Taiwanese government.
Against the backdrop of the DPP seeking an additional $40 billion USD in defense budget, IORG Taiwan and three Taiwanese security officials believe these actions seem aimed at convincing the Taiwanese public that China's military power is considerable and that Taiwan's spending on more U.S. weapons is futile.
Regarding Beijing's information warfare, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Ministry of National Defense have not responded to Reuters' requests for comment.
The Taiwan Ministry of National Defense told Reuters that it is responding to China's significant enhancement of "cognitive warfare" by strengthening the military's media literacy and psychological resilience.
The Taiwan Presidential Office stated that cross-strait peace must "be built on strength, not on yielding to authoritarian pressure."
Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube did not respond to questions about China's information warfare, and Douyin also did not reply to Reuters' requests for comment.
As China continues to prepare for military action against Taiwan, information warfare is part of Beijing's strategy to weaken Taiwan without resorting to force.
The report notes that in this regard, the KMT provides a favorable breakthrough for China. This opposition party in Taiwan is seeking to strengthen ties with Beijing to avoid what it calls an escalating crisis due to the DPP government's provocations towards China.
Sylvia Chang met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing earlier this month. Xi told her that the KMT and the Communist Party "should consolidate political mutual trust, maintain benign interaction, unite compatriots on both sides of the strait, and work together to create the reunification of the motherland."
The KMT responded to Reuters in a statement, saying Chang's visit to Beijing fulfilled her election promise and continued the long tradition of high-level KMT-CCP meetings. Although there are many differences between the two parties, both believe that disagreements should be resolved through dialogue.
●The Social Media Battlefield
According to data provided to Reuters by IORG Taiwan, it is possible to see how this Chinese operation works. This civic organization is composed of social scientists and data analysts, belongs to no party, and receives partial funding from Western governments and Taiwanese academic institutions.
In the fourth quarter of last year, 1,076 official CCP media accounts posted approximately 560,000 videos on Douyin, of which about 18,000 videos involved Taiwan issues.
Using facial recognition technology, IORG Taiwan identified 57 Taiwanese individuals in 2,730 videos. This finding was verified by their researchers and reviewed by Reuters.
Compared to the same period in the previous year, the number of videos featuring statements by Taiwanese individuals more than doubled between October and November last year, with total monthly playback time increasing by 164% to 369 minutes.
Notably, among the top 25 most exposed Taiwanese individuals in Chinese videos, 13 were related to the KMT, including current legislators, party representatives, and former officials from the KMT's ruling period. Two others were high-ranking officials from small parties supporting unification with China, and 10 were influencers known for criticizing the ruling DPP.
Sylvia Chang was the top-ranked Taiwanese individual in Chinese videos, appearing in 460 videos posted by 68 Douyin accounts, generating over 5 million interactions, including likes, comments, and shares.
According to Reuters, these videos amplified her calls for cross-strait peace, her criticism of President Lai as a pawn of external forces, and her view that the DPP's stance on independence is destructive. This content is first broadcast on Chinese state media and social platforms, with some videos later repackaged and distributed on popular Taiwanese platforms.
The KMT stated in a statement that Chang's remarks reflect the mainstream expectations of the Taiwanese people for peace, and "even if Chinese state media tend to incorporate more Taiwanese voices, it is based on the diverse public opinion that already exists in Taiwan."
Numerous influencers have also been heavily cited by Chinese media, including fitness influencer "Sir Chen" (Chen Zhi-han), popular among young people, and five retired high-ranking military officers known for criticizing Taiwan's defense and the DPP.
Chen Zhi-han congratulated "Motherland" on her birthday during a YouTube live broadcast on the eve of China's National Day last year and called the people on both sides of the strait one family. Chinese state media such as China News Service later shared these clips.
Chen Zhi-han did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
In another video released by China News Service, retired Army Colonel Lai Yueh-chien claimed that Chinese drones entered Taiwan undetected during the December military exercises last year. He also hinted that China might launch decapitation strikes against Taiwan's independence leaders while they slept. This video quickly appeared on Facebook and YouTube.
According to IORG Taiwan
According to a Reuters report, a news media outlet under the Chinese Communist Party published a 51-second video on Douyin, featuring Kuomintang (KMT) Chairperson Sylvia Chang accusing Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te of provoking Chinese aggression.
Chang claimed in December last year that President Lai, by pursuing Taiwanese independence, "is leading this dead-end path to the very end, implicating 23 million Taiwanese people." This video quickly appeared on popular Taiwanese social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube.
According to five Taiwanese security officials and data provided to Reuters by the Information Resource Center (IORG) Taiwan, Chinese state media are increasingly amplifying internal criticism of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taiwan, including voices from KMT-affiliated influencers and politicians.
Based on this data and sources, China utilizes public statements criticizing the Taiwanese government from KMT and other opposition figures, and disseminates a large volume of anti-DPP information through Chinese state media and social platforms.
These videos are subsequently forwarded and often repackaged on popular Taiwanese social media platforms, including Facebook, Douyin, its overseas version TikTok, and YouTube, sometimes modified or presented in a way that conceals Chinese involvement.
While China has used Taiwanese figures for propaganda in the past, it has significantly intensified this information warfare tactic. Taiwanese security officials point out that familiar voices and accents make the content more credible to the public.
These officials emphasized that China's goal is to discredit the Taiwanese government.
Against the backdrop of the DPP seeking an additional $40 billion USD in defense budget, IORG Taiwan and three Taiwanese security officials believe these actions seem aimed at convincing the Taiwanese public that China's military power is considerable and that Taiwan's spending on more U.S. weapons is futile.
Regarding Beijing's information warfare, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Ministry of National Defense have not responded to Reuters' requests for comment.
The Taiwan Ministry of National Defense told Reuters that it is responding to China's significant enhancement of "cognitive warfare" by strengthening the military's media literacy and psychological resilience.
The Taiwan Presidential Office stated that cross-strait peace must "be built on strength, not on yielding to authoritarian pressure."
Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube did not respond to questions about China's information warfare, and Douyin also did not reply to Reuters' requests for comment.
As China continues to prepare for military action against Taiwan, information warfare is part of Beijing's strategy to weaken Taiwan without resorting to force.
The report notes that in this regard, the KMT provides a favorable breakthrough for China. This opposition party in Taiwan is seeking to strengthen ties with Beijing to avoid what it calls an escalating crisis due to the DPP government's provocations towards China.
Sylvia Chang met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing earlier this month. Xi told her that the KMT and the Communist Party "should consolidate political mutual trust, maintain benign interaction, unite compatriots on both sides of the strait, and work together to create the reunification of the motherland."
The KMT responded to Reuters in a statement, saying Chang's visit to Beijing fulfilled her election promise and continued the long tradition of high-level KMT-CCP meetings. Although there are many differences between the two parties, both believe that disagreements should be resolved through dialogue.
●The Social Media Battlefield
According to data provided to Reuters by IORG Taiwan, it is possible to see how this Chinese operation works. This civic organization is composed of social scientists and data analysts, belongs to no party, and receives partial funding from Western governments and Taiwanese academic institutions.
In the fourth quarter of last year, 1,076 official CCP media accounts posted approximately 560,000 videos on Douyin, of which about 18,000 videos involved Taiwan issues.
Using facial recognition technology, IORG Taiwan identified 57 Taiwanese individuals in 2,730 videos. This finding was verified by their researchers and reviewed by Reuters.
Compared to the same period in the previous year, the number of videos featuring statements by Taiwanese individuals more than doubled between October and November last year, with total monthly playback time increasing by 164% to 369 minutes.
Notably, among the top 25 most exposed Taiwanese individuals in Chinese videos, 13 were related to the KMT, including current legislators, party representatives, and former officials from the KMT's ruling period. Two others were high-ranking officials from small parties supporting unification with China, and 10 were influencers known for criticizing the ruling DPP.
Sylvia Chang was the top-ranked Taiwanese individual in Chinese videos, appearing in 460 videos posted by 68 Douyin accounts, generating over 5 million interactions, including likes, comments, and shares.
According to Reuters, these videos amplified her calls for cross-strait peace, her criticism of President Lai as a pawn of external forces, and her view that the DPP's stance on independence is destructive. This content is first broadcast on Chinese state media and social platforms, with some videos later repackaged and distributed on popular Taiwanese platforms.
The KMT stated in a statement that Chang's remarks reflect the mainstream expectations of the Taiwanese people for peace, and "even if Chinese state media tend to incorporate more Taiwanese voices, it is based on the diverse public opinion that already exists in Taiwan."
Numerous influencers have also been heavily cited by Chinese media, including fitness influencer "Sir Chen" (Chen Zhi-han), popular among young people, and five retired high-ranking military officers known for criticizing Taiwan's defense and the DPP.
Chen Zhi-han congratulated "Motherland" on her birthday during a YouTube live broadcast on the eve of China's National Day last year and called the people on both sides of the strait one family. Chinese state media such as China News Service later shared these clips.
Chen Zhi-han did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
In another video released by China News Service, retired Army Colonel Lai Yueh-chien claimed that Chinese drones entered Taiwan undetected during the December military exercises last year. He also hinted that China might launch decapitation strikes against Taiwan's independence leaders while they slept. This video quickly appeared on Facebook and YouTube.
According to IORG Taiwan