China employs hackers and celebrities to undermine Taiwan
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. As Beijing dispatched its military Monday in a show of force that encircled Taiwan, China’s coast guard posted a map showing its ships ringing the island in a heart-shaped formation, describing it as “an act of love." To Taiwan, the social-media message was just one piece of China’s multifaceted campaign to intimidate, isolate and influence the people and leaders of the island democracy to give up their commitment to self-rule. Alongside its most high-profile tactic—sending a message of military dominance—China is employing what Taiwan says is an expanding army of hackers, diplomats, prosecutors and celebrities in its effort to persuade Taiwan to submit to Beijing.
“If you put all these things together…Taiwan feels under intense pressure and probably greater than anything ever before," said Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific program at the German Marshall Fund, a Washington-based think tank. China claims Taiwan, an island 100 miles from the mainland, as its own territory. Support within Taiwan for maintaining the current arrangement—an island democracy governed from Taipei—is at a high, according to a 30-year survey on the topic.
Voters this year elected a new president whose party is committed to resisting China’s embrace. Mainland officials depict President Lai Ching-te as an advocate for Taiwan’s independence—a red line for Beijing. Lai says he is committed to preserving the status quo.
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