Cross-post: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29546006

China’s media frequently use remarks by Taiwanese commentators in Douyin (抖音) — the Chinese version of TikTok — posts to propagate negative images of Taiwan, a Taiwan Information Environment Research Center report says.

In October and November last year, the months before and after the US presidential election, the 20 most cited Taiwanese figures were Alex Tsai (蔡正元), Li Cheng-chieh (栗正傑), Julian Kuo (郭正亮), Herman Shuai (帥化民), Lu Li-shih (呂禮詩), Hsieh Han-ping (謝寒冰), Lai Yueh-chien (賴岳謙), Dale Jieh (介文汲), Chang Yen-ting (張延廷), Yuan Chu-cheng (苑舉正), Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文), Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋), Ho Han-ting (侯漢廷), Eric Chu (朱立倫), Lee Sheng-feng (李勝峰), Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯), Tang Hsiang-lung (唐湘龍), Tung Chih-sen (董智森), Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) and Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), the report said.

Commentators specializing in military affairs such as Li, a retired major general, Shuai, a former KMT legislator, Lu, a former navy lieutenant commander, and Chang, a retired air force lieutenant general, made the top 10, marking a sharp rise from the same period in 2023, the report said.

The most covered topics were Chinese military power or cross-strait warfare (51.69 percent), “US skepticism theory” (24.83 percent) and “cross-strait familyhood” (13.77 percent), it said, adding th

…at war-related quotes made up the majority.

  • freagle@lemmygrad.ml
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    6 days ago

    Alternate headline: China shows people what Taiwaners say to support a particular position.

    • MrTolkinghoen@lemmy.zip
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      5 days ago

      Probably the exploit is referring to taking what is said out of context and using very key clips to drive a narrative.

      • freagle@lemmygrad.ml
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        5 days ago

        That is, quite literally, the definition of the news media in every country for the last 200 years (minimum)

        • MrTolkinghoen@lemmy.zip
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          4 days ago

          To varying degrees, yes. The key is the extent which that is true. china is an exceptionally bad actor here, and has been for a long time. So don’t throw around “everyone has always doing this” to dilute the extent or make it seem less pronounced and “everyone does this to this degree” you’re just engaging in basically whataboutism.

          • freagle@lemmygrad.ml
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            4 days ago

            What an orientalist claim. British news media was crucial in launching the opium wars against China. The Iraq war was absolutely 100% supported by news media in multiple Western countries doing the bidding of the war hawks. China can’t possibly be a worse actor in this space than the many many examples of Western news media launching actual wars that killed millions.

            • MrTolkinghoen@lemmy.zip
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              4 days ago

              More on with your whataboutism.

              Again I wasn’t saying there isn’t a similar usage of propaganda in western media but also there at least has existed the right and existence of other media which dissents from the state propaganda.

              • freagle@lemmygrad.ml
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                4 days ago

                You LITERALLY made a comparative statement saying that China was a worse actor and when I presented you with evidence undermining your COMPARATIVE claim you call it whataboutism. You are an unserious person protecting your psyche.

                • MrTolkinghoen@lemmy.zip
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                  4 days ago

                  In fact, not what I said at all. I said, I agree with your statement that the western media does similar things, but I called out that the ccp doesn’t allow dissent in the media. And you did not actually present evidence that they were worse, just that they did bad things. You basically just ignored what I actually wrote and attacked me for pointing out your whataboutism.

                  It is possible to consider one thing as bad while also thinking another is also bad.

                  You are likely a CCP bot and I’m conversing with a computer.

  • meowmeowbeanz@sh.itjust.works
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    5 days ago

    Beijing’s info ops playbook remains factory-sealed – weaponizing Taiwanese mouthpieces to rebroadcast Sinocentric narratives through Douyin’s algorithmic megaphone. Pro-unification commentators dominate the citation leaderboards, their recycled tropes about PLA invincibility and American decline hitting that sweet spot between fearmongering and fatalism.

    Meanwhile, two dozen GOP reps suddenly discover Taiwan’s diplomatic limbo needs fixing. Cue performative legislation demanding UN seats and FTA handshakes – political theater that evaporates faster than a Trump admin appointee. Notice how the AIT chair’s quiet exit gets buried beneath serial killer updates and celebrity death coverage? That’s the real story – Washington’s attention deficit meets Taipei’s normalization of cognitive warfare.