79 MARTINDALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF PRIVATE ENTERPRISE gressively lobbies against countries’ ties with Taipei (Sullivan & Nachman, 2024). However, instead of weakening Taiwan’s resolve, Beijing’s actions have the opposite effect, inspiring resistance and solidifying the island’s commitment to democracy. Headlines exclaim, “Life in Taiwan is rowdy and proud, never mind China’s threats” (Kuo, 2024) and “Fearful but defiant: life goes on in Taiwan despite China’s threats” (Davidson, 2021). The more Chinese intimidation endangers Taiwan’s autonomy, social justice, and the rights of its 23 million citizens, the more Taiwanese society unites around its identity as a rights-respecting democracy. This vicious cycle, a feedback loop of escalating tensions and uncertainty, is evident in everything from election patterns to protest movements. As the two push against one another, geopolitical, economic, and cultural factors are at risk. And peace teeters. Whenever Taiwan pushes back against the One China policy, China reacts with violent maneuvers that threaten Taiwan’s individuality and democracy. In 2022, then US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi made a controversial visit to Taiwan. China responded with extremely aggressive military exercises in Taiwanese airspace and waters by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy and People’s Liberation Air Force and by launching ballistic missile drills. As recently as December 2023, China renewed its threat to annex Taiwan by military force if necessary. So too, Taiwan faces sophisticated Chinese cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns designed to undermine trust in its democratic institutions and polarize public opinion about sovereignty. Taiwan experiences over five million cyberattacks daily, targeting both public and private sectors. Small and large cyberattacks against Taiwanese government agencies aim to disrupt operations and the public’s confidence in their own government (Huang, 2023). Numerous notable examples originate in China. The RedJuliett cyber espionage campaign targeted 75 Taiwanese organizations, including technology firms, government agencies, and universities. The largest ransomware (a type of malware that encrypts the victim’s data until ransom is paid) attack in 2020, Smokescreen, disabled the state-owned CPC Corporation, the main gasoline supplier in Taiwan. CPC VIP membership cards and electronic transaction apps were unusable; customers had to pay by cash or with credit card until the payment system was restored (China-linked threat group…, n.d.). During Pelosi’s high-profile visit in 2022, cyberattacks surged as a tactic of intimidation. Digital signage at 7-Eleven stores was hacked to display propaganda messages, such as “Warmonger Pelosi, get out of Taiwan!” Similarly, digital signs in Kaohsiung were altered to insult Pelosi, referring to her as “an old witch.” In a related incident, hackers briefly took down the Taiwanese president’s official government website, showcasing the vulnerability of critical digital infrastructure during politically sensitive moments (McCandless Farmer, 2023) The coordinated hacking during the Pelosi visit underscores the growing role of cyber warfare in cross-strait tensions, as Taiwan’s democracy and independence remain under pressure in both physical and virtual realms. These cyber intrusions were not isolated incidents. As Tyshchenko notes in this volume, relentless similar digital assaults reflect broader hybrid warfare strategies to undermine Taiwan’s stability and morale. Nevertheless, Taiwan’s strong democratic identity enables citizens to recognize and resist these destabilization attempts. Success in maintaining civil liberties despite this intimidation demonstrates how a robust sense of collective identity serves as a crucial defense mechanism for human rights. Beijing wages a multilayered campaign of economic pressure, targeted bribery, and digital manipulation to recruit Taiwanese collaborators and promote pro-China narratives, leading to concerns about Taiwan’s sovereignty and security. Notably, Chang Wen-tsan, the former head of the Straits Exchange Foundation, has been implicated in corruption investigations, accused of accepting Chinese funds in exchange for facilitating Beijing’s influence. On top of that, China exerts economic coercion by suspending trade preferences, as seen when tariffs applied on 12 petrochemical imports from Taiwan were halted to penalize voters and to sway public sentiment against the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (Hsiao, 2024a; Sperzel et al., 2025). The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) uses several avenues of influence in Taiwan, blending disinformation, economic leverage, and covert political operations. On the digital front, the PRC orchestrates election interference through fake polls, fabricated websites, AI-generated content, and proxy networks that promote the KMT while undermining the Democratic Progressive Party. During the 2024 presidential election, coordinated campaigns on platforms like TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) created hundreds of fake accounts and inauthentic influencers to spread scandalous narratives, amassing millions of views. These efforts are enabled by China’s ability to fund trips, pay individuals directly, and manipulate group sentiments to shape public opinion.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTA0OTQ5OA==