16 January 2024

4 ways China is trying to interfere in Taiwan’s presidential election

Lily Kuo, Pei-Lin Wu, Vic Chiang and Joseph Menn

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Floating high-altitude balloons over the island, funding pro-Beijing social media influencers, and hosting local officials on lavish trips to China: These are among the tactics Beijing is accused of deploying to influence Taiwan’s presidential election to be held on Saturday.

For years, Taiwan — which Beijing claims is an “inalienable” part of China — has been the target of Chinese influence campaigns aimed at convincing citizens that coming under Chinese Communist Party rule is their best option. Those efforts have come to the fore ahead of what is expected to be the closest presidential and legislative race for the island democracy in decades.

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