With elections looming, China wants Taiwanese voters to think America is their greatest threat
to manufacture biological weapons at a lab run by the island’s defence ministry, the report claimed. Taiwanese and American officials quickly denied it. The allegedly leaked minutes, it transpired, were not written in the usual style of Taiwanese government records. They were filled with official-sounding phrases used in mainland China, but not Taiwan. This was likely Chinese disinformation, Taiwanese officials said. Yet the story spread to Taiwanese talk shows and influencers.
Chinese actors are exploiting those fears, just as Russian disinformation exploited America’s racial and cultural cracks for the benefit of Donald Trump in 2016. Chinese disinformation in Taiwan also echoes Russian propaganda about the war in Ukraine, which claims America is behind the conflict . Taiwan has laws against foreign infiltration and election influence, but they are limited to cases of proven state-sponsored activity. It has additional laws against spreading wilful falsehood in broadcast media, but they do not cover print or digital outlets. In 2020 the government revoked the licence ofsimply moved online.
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