As the 2024 Taiwanese general election draws near, the Chinese regime is actively conducting a disinformation campaign to influence public opinion in Taiwan. However, current polls show that China has not been successful in meddling in Taiwan’s election.
Election Interference
On Dec. 12, the Japanese national newspaper Sankei Shimbun revealed that Taiwanese officials were aware that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities held a meeting in early December regarding the Taiwanese presidential election and instructed relevant departments to cover up their attempts to interfere in the election.Wang Huning, deputy head of the Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, chaired the CCP meeting. During the meeting, there was a call for a change in the method of election interference from a “large-scale operation” to a “decentralized” model to avoid overseas criticism of its influence campaigns.
Taiwan’s Response
According to statistics from the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office of Taiwan, since August, the prosecutor’s office has accepted 822 cases of illegal political betting involving 731 people, 122 cases of false messages involving 145 people, 1,820 cases of illegal bribery, and 115 cases of election interference by foreign forces, involving 144 people, including travel to China by public servants, breach of the Anti-Infiltration Act, and unlawful foreign funds. The Taiwanese Ministry of Justice is actively prosecuting individuals involved in such cases.CCP’s Failed Election Interference
In an interview with The Epoch Times on Dec. 19, Tung Li-wen, a professor at Taiwan’s Central Police University and an adviser to Taiwan Thinktank, said that the CCP’s election interference efforts range from direct to indirect influence.He said that Wang Huning from the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, who puts forward policy directions for election interference in Taiwan, and the CCP’s regular press conferences, where they have been trying to set the tone for Taiwan’s election with rhetoric such as war and peace, and prosperity and recession, are all direct means of election interference.
On a more subtle level, Mr. Tung pointed out that the CCP has taken advantage of all cross-strait exchanges and communications. For example, this year, the CCP has invited Taiwan’s various civilian social organizations to make large-scale visits to China. Then the Chinese organizers openly discuss Taiwan’s elections during each group’s visit to either entice or pressure these groups.
He also said that Chinese military aircraft and warships’ incursions around Taiwan can also be seen as a method to insert pressure on Taiwan’s elections. However, on a more covert level, the CCP seeks to use financial incentives to lure people to support their cause.
“The purpose of the CCP is to make a strong statement of unification in the Taiwanese election, and it is attempting to shape the trend of public opinion,” said Mr. Tung. “Overall, the scale and intensity of this year’s election interference is much worse than in the past.”
Although the CCP is desperately trying to oust the current ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taiwan, current polls show that the DPP presidential and vice-presidential candidates William Lai and Hsiao Bi-khim are in the lead. Mr. Tung said, “The people of Taiwan are able to make a rational judgment, otherwise, such intensive interference in Taiwan’s politics and elections would not have resulted in the current polling trends. If the CCP had succeeded, it would not have gotten the poll results as it has now. This proves that the CCP’s influence campaign in the election is relatively unsuccessful.”
CCP Interference Becoming the Norm
Taiwan Thinktank Deputy CEO Doong Sy-Chi said that the CCP’s election interference has become a normal part of Taiwan’s daily life, which means that the CCP is entrenching its influence in Taiwan.He said, “The CCP’s election meddling in Taiwan is a way of hoping that more problems will arise in Taiwan’s democracy. Since the result of the election may not go in the direction that the CCP wants, it simply seeks to destroy Taiwan’s democracy. Therefore, on the one hand, it paints a positive image of China, and on the other hand, it smears Taiwan’s democracy, or uses disinformation to make people believe that Taiwan’s democracy is in a terrible shape.”
Mr. Doong also emphasized that a wrong choice of leader could harm Taiwan’s democracy and sovereignty since the CCP’s ultimate goal is to take over Taiwan and force it to become a part of China.
“No sovereignty means no democracy, and Hong Kong is a good example,” he said. “When there is no actual sovereignty, it is useless to advocate freedom or democracy.”
