Beijing is using statements made by Taiwanese political pundits to create a pro-China worldview, an Information Operations Research Group study found.
In a report published on Tuesday, the group listed 10 Taiwanese political pundits who were cited the most from July to September by Douyin (抖音) accounts that were controlled by Beijing or its state media.
The 10 pundits include former representative to New Zealand Dale Jieh (介文汲), former army colonel Lai Yueh-tchienn (賴岳謙), former legislator Julian Kuo (郭正亮), former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元), retired lieutenant general and former KMT legislator Herman Shuai (帥化民), Hsieh Han-tung (謝寒冰), radio host Tang Hsiang-lung (唐湘龍), KMT vice presidential candidate and Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康), retired major general Li Cheng-chieh (栗正傑) and KMT Legislator Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇), the report said.
Photo: Dad Ruvic, Reuters
The remarks most frequently quoted were related to topics such as US skepticism, the US being the source of global chaos, protesting against the discharge of the treated nuclear wastewater from Japan’s disabled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, praising Huawei and the cross-strait situation, it said.
The pundits have a “division of labor” on the topics they discuss — Jieh criticized US foreign policy and the democratic system using his diplomatic background; politicians and media personnel criticized the Democratic Progressive Party for its poor governance; and retired military personnel said that Taiwan’s armed forces could not defeat the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, it said.
Lai and Tang often said that Taiwan is a part of China, and Jaw appeared in many of the cited clips as a host of political commentary programs, it said.
The five accounts that cited Taiwanese pundits most often in order of frequency belong to Taihai Net and the Strait Herald under the Fujian Daily Newspapering Group, Taiwan.cn of the China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Huaxia Jingwei and China Daily, the report said.
The Fujian Daily Newspapering Group is subordinate to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Fujian Committee, it said.
For the CCP, Taiwanese pundits are “more important and influential” than the nation’s president and presidential candidates, the study said.
The number of views gathered by the 10 most cited pundits was 6.53 times more than President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), the DPP’s presidential candidate Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the KMT’s presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), and Taiwan People’s Party’s Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) combined, it showed.
There were 2.41 times more videos including the 10 pundits than those that included the president or candidates, and the total length of these videos was 3.59 times longer, it showed.
The pundits were frequently cited as the remarks they made helped the CCP to create a biased image of Taiwan and a worldview that is in line with Beijing’s interests, it said.
The study urged the public to be more cautious while participating in public discussions and be aware that pundits are being used by the CCP as “public opinion weapons.”
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