Taiwan’s fight against Chinese cognitive warfare

Nov. 23, 2023 

Things are heating up in East Asia and the Asia Pacific after Biden’s talk with Xi Jinping on the sidelines of APEC this past week.  The U.S. military stages patrols with the Philippines in the waters near Taiwan now, Taiwan prepares for its general election this winter, and Australia “beefs up” its cybersecurity in the wake of many cyber attacks in recent years. 

Philippines launches joint sea, air patrols with US military | Reuters

Taiwan ruling party powers ahead as chaos engulfs opposition campaign | Reuters

Taiwan ruling party talks China policy as opposition campaign unravels | Reuters

Australia beefs up cyber defences after major breaches | Reuters

China is undoubtedly carrying on election interference and cognitive warfare in Taiwan right now. There seems to be plenty of awareness about this issue in Taiwan. And we do have a limited window into the means by which they are doing it. If you follow the Taiwan Fact Check Centers “Disinformation Detector“ newsletter, you can get some historical examples of this from the last two election cycles. The project is ongoing, but thus far an interesting fact has come up. Namely, the method that Chinese cognitive warfare is taking up to use in its effort to influence Taiwan is the use and abuse of what are called “narratives“, that is, discursive pieces that tap into current contentions in society.  I would argue there are good and bad uses of narratives, and China seems to be mostly malefic in nature, exploiting peoples existential dread. For example, there is a lot of spreading skepticism about the US, one of Taiwan’s closest allies. The US closely supports Taiwan, and public sentiment to support Taiwan is only growing in the US. Not only is the US obligated to defend Taiwan, but Taiwan is one of its essential trade partners. So it is obvious why China wants to sow doubt about this relationship. 

Although by and large Taiwanese are savvy enough to pick up on who is peddling mainland-based propaganda, some disinformation efforts have in the past had a chilling effect on voters. For example, on election day in 2020, disinformation pieces about vote rigging “provided erroneous information to make voting appear troublesome enough to discourage voters“ according to the Disinfo Detector.  Thus it is still important to debunk disinformation even as cognitive warfare moves in new directions.

The other events we see, including the US, moving into a protective role in the waters off of Taiwan, and Taiwan’s free elections themselves, are part of the resistance to Chinese cognitive warfare in the region.  This shift in the analytical paradigm is good for Taiwan, but can’t happen without increased concern for democracy, labor unions and social movements both in the US and abroad.  The world can benefit from Taiwan’s fight against Chinese cognitive warfare.