Chinese Information Manipulation Against Taiwan

B.1 Kansai Airport

• Post by Weibo account “Flood beast baby” (洪水猛兽 baby)
• Post by Weibo account “Hon-good product mini” (本-良品 mini)

• Consulate-General of PRC in Osaka

B.2 Chen Chu is corrupt

• Report by CN media “Phenix News Agency” (鳳凰新聞社)
• Post by Facebook account “Howard Fang”

B.3 American influenza is deadlier than COVID-19

• Report by CN state media “The Paper” (澎湃新聞)

• The Paper
• WeChat OAP “This Is America (这里是美国) operated by Global Times

B.4 U.S. spreads coronavirus through Wuhan World Military Games

• Article by udn blog “Red Square 123”
• Post by Facebook account “Master Wang”
• Post by CN state-affiliated media “Kunlunce” (昆仑策研究院)

• CCTV
• People’s Daily
• State-affiliated media “Kunlunce”

B.5 American influenza is COVID-19

• Modified report from Asahi Shimbun
• Political Commentary Program “This Is Not News” of TW media EBC
• Tweet by PRC Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Li-jian
• Report by northjersey.com

• PRC Foreign Ministry spokesperson
• People’s Daily
• China News Service
• Global Times

B.6 Liberate America

• Post by Facebook page “China Heart” (中国心)

• Facebook page “China Heart” operated by Chinese Communist Youth League

B.7 Central Election Commission’s vote tampering

• Report by TW media CTWant
• Post by Facebook account “Lin Shan-Ru” (林珊如) at public group “Trump for the World (於公神使川普建喜樂臺港)
• Post by Wang Yan-Jun (王彥濬) at Facebook public group “China Common People’s Party” (中國庶民黨)

B.1 Kansai Airport

• Media “Guancha Syndicate” (观察者网)

• Apple Daily
• Other TW news media & political commentary programs

• Gossiping & Japan_Travel of PTT

B.2 Chen Chu is corrupt

• Media “Phoenix News Agency” (鳳凰新聞社)

• Facebook account “Howard Fang”

B.3 American influenza is deadlier than COVID-19

• State media “The Paper” (澎湃新聞)
• WeChat OAP “This Is America” (这里是美国) operated by state media Global Times

• Liberty Times
• CTWant
• “Situation Room” (少康戰情室) of TVBS

B.4 U.S. spreads coronavirus through Wuhan World Military Games

• State media CCTV
• State media People’s Daily
• State-affiliated media “Kunlunce”
• Facebook page “Ting-Ting Sees the World” (婷婷看世界)

• YouTube “Ho CK Jonathan” (何志光)
• Facebook account “HK.Peter”
• Facebook page “China Dream” (中國夢)
• Facebook page “Sunglassgor” (黑超哥)
• Facebook page “Ko Chi-Sum” (高志森)

• “This Is Not News” (這不是新聞) of EBC
• “57 Blast News” (57 爆新聞) of EBC

• Facebook page “Master Wang” (王大師)

• udn blog “Red Square 123”

B.5 American influenza is COVID-19

• Twitter account of PRC Foreign Ministry spokesperson
• State media Global Times
• State media People’s Daily
• State media China News Service
• State-affiliated media “Tencent Net” (腾讯网)
• Facebook page “Ting-Ting Sees the World” (婷婷看世界)

• YouTube “Ho CK Jonathan” (何志光)
• Facebook page “Sunglassgor” (黑超哥)

• “This Is Not News” of EBC

• YouTube “phoenixbinbini TV”
• YouTube “Shi-Chang” (石昌)

• Malaysian content farm “Qu-Xiang Net” (趣享網), “Qiqu” (奇趣網)
• Malaysian Chinese-language news media “See Hua Daily News” (詩華日報)
• North American Chinese-language news media “World Journal” (世界新聞網)

B.6 Liberate America

• Facebook page “China Heart” operated by Chinese Communist Youth League
• Pro-China Facebook pages “Global Chinese Glory Alliance”, “Global Chinese Information Alliance”, “Global Chinese Military Alliance”

• Facebook page “Hongkongers Protect Our Home Together” (香港人、齊保家)

• Facebook page “Anti-Tsai Fans Group” (反蔡英文粉絲團)
• Facebook page “Han’s Army Die-hard Fan Alliance” (韓家軍鐵粉聯盟)

• Malaysian Facebook page “I Am Kedah” (我是吉打人)

B.7 Central Election Commission’s vote tampering

• CTWant
• TVBS
• Other TW news media & political commentary programs

• YouTube “True Voice of Taiwan (政經關不了)
• YouTube “108 Studio” (108 演播室)

B.1 Kansai Airport

• Reinforce image that Chinese government is efficient and resourceful internationally
• Reinforce image that Taiwanese government is incompenent
• Affect Taiwan’s 2018 elections

B.2 Chen Chu is corrupt

• Reinforce image that Taiwan’s ruling party and government is corrupt
• Affect Taiwan’s 2020 elections

B.3 American influenza is deadlier than COVID-19

• Shift public opinion focus away from COVID-19
• Affect image of the U.S. in Taiwan
• Reduce trust of Taiwan’s people in their government

B.4 U.S. spreads coronavirus through Wuhan World Military Games

• Deny that China is source of COVID-19
• Establish that the U.S. is source of COVID-19
• Shift responsibility for starting a global pandemic from China to the U.S.
• Stoke Chinese nationalism against “foreign virus”

B.5 American influenza is COVID-19

• Establish that the U.S. is source of COVID-19
• Transform China from source to victim of pandemic
• Shift responsibility for starting a global pandemic from China to the U.S.

B.6 Liberate America

• Create image of social unrest in the U.S. and violation of human rights by the U.S. government
• Paint democracy movement in Hongkong as violent riot

B.7 Central Election Commission’s vote tampering

• Reduce Taiwanese people’s trust of the voting authorities and election results
• Affect Taiwan’s 2020 elections

B.1 Kansai Airport

• B.11 = Chinese embassy sends buses to evacuate passengers, Chinese get on buses first
• B.12 = Taiwanese can get on buses too if self-identify as Chinese

B.11 should precede B.12

• Attach “on-site” videos to social media posts and news media reports
• Emphasize “personal experience” in PTT posts

• Taiwan Fact-check Center report #18

B.2 Chen Chu is corrupt

• B.21 = Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu is corrupt
• B.22 = Feeling unbearable, an MJIB official leaked that Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu is corrupt

B.21 should precede B.22

• Create conspiracy theories with fragmented information
• Add “feeling unbearable, an MJIB official leaked...” to imply that even public servants do not trust the government

• 2019/11/21 MJIB press release

B.3 American influenza is deadlier than COVID-19

• B.31 = American influenza, causing 6,600 deaths, is deadlier than COVID-19
• B.32 = American influenza is deadlier than COVID-19 and ignored by news media

No obvious relations

• Use U.S. CDC official statistics with death toll ranging from 1,000 to 80,000

“American influenza caused 80,000 death” is false information

B.4 U.S. spreads coronavirus through Wuhan World Military Games

• B.41 = U.S. brought coronavirus to China through Wuhan Military World Games
• B.42 = Coronavirus is a U.S.-made bio weapon
• B.43 = Coronavirus was leaked from a U.S. lab

From January 2020 3 narratives appeared independently, then converged into a more complete theory in which B.41 is strengthened by B.42 & B.43

• Create conspiracy theories with fragmented information
• Participation from Chinese state media

• Taiwan Fact-check Center report #315
• 2020/3/9 The News Lens fact-checking report

B.5 American influenza is COVID-19

• B.51 = Asahi Shimbun: COVID-19 outbreaks in the U.S. long before Wuhan?
• B.52 = Pan Hwai-Tzong: U.S. is source of coronavirus?
• B.53 = Zhao Li-Jian: U.S. CDC chief admits flu patients may have had COVID-19
• B.54 = Belleville Mayor contracted COVID-19 in November 2019

B.51 to B.54 appeared in order while Zhao Li-Jian combines narratives regarding Military World Games and American influenza

• Quote foreign news media reports and U.S. House video
• Participation from Chinese Foreign Ministry and state media
• Quote and appropriate “personal experience” from a mayor in the U.S.

• Taiwan Fact-check Center report #345
• Taiwan Fact-check Center report #358
• Taiwan Fact-check Center report #378

B.6 Liberate America

• B.61 = Liberate America

• Attach riot photos and videos to social media posts

B.7 Central Election Commission’s vote tampering

• B.71 = CEC stuffed votes with blank ballots
• B.72 = CEC used waxed ballots to cause invalid votes
• B.73 = CEC altered vote count with computer systems

B.71 B.72 appeared before Taiwan’s 2020 elections while B.73 appeared afterwards

• Quote unverifiable “personal experience” and authoritative narratives

• 2019/12/19 CEC press release
• Taiwan Fact-check Center report #232
• Taiwan Fact-check Center report #245
• Taiwan Fact-check Center report #266
• Taiwan Fact-check Center report #272

Sisy’s World News

• All posts are digest of “foreign news media reports” where each post consists of single-paragraph summaries of reports from various sources
• Sources cited are all news media outside China
• All posts use Traditional Han characters
• Some phrases are converted to Taiwanese versions
• Images attached to 11 (of 12) posts contain Weibo watermark

Ting-Ting Sees the World

• All posts should be single-source
• Some posts contains source links to Weibo
• Do not cite sources outside of China such as Forbes, ABC
• Some posts use Simplified Han characters
• Phrases are not converted to Taiwanese versions
• Images attached to some posts contain Weibo watermark
• Videos attached to some posts are from Chinese state media