TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s National Security Bureau will launch an election security project ahead of schedule to counter potential Chinese interference in the 2026 local elections.
The NSB routinely activates such projects during election years, per Liberty Times. Based on recent assessments, the bureau believes Beijing may intensify its interference in next year’s elections.
NSB Deputy Director Hsu Hsi-hsiang (徐錫祥) said in October 2023 that five cases of foreign interference were recorded during the 2022 local elections. In December 2023, less than a month before the 2024 presidential election, prosecutors reported 115 cases involving 144 individuals linked to foreign influence operations.
These included organizing trips for borough chiefs and residents to China, breaking the Anti-Infiltration Act, and the use of foreign funds. Prosecutors said the number and variety of foreign interference cases had grown compared to the previous presidential and legislative elections.
Common tactics included underground funding transfers from abroad, Chinese organizations aiding local collaborators with money or materials, and paying for Taiwanese voters to travel to China for hospitality tours aimed at shaping their political views.
A Ministry of Justice report also listed possible forms of foreign funding, such as donations through Taiwanese firms, temple charity events, influencer marketing, boosting online traffic, and the use of underground banks or virtual currencies.
At the broader political level, the Mainland Affairs Council said the CCP has tried to discredit certain Taiwanese candidates by calling them “troublemakers” for cross-strait peace. It also deploys military aircraft and ships near Taiwan to heighten tensions and uses propaganda to frame elections as a choice between “war and peace.”
Economically, Beijing manipulates agricultural and fishery imports, launches trade barrier investigations, and threatens to suspend the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement. These actions are designed to create a contrast between “prosperity and decline” and to lure Taiwanese public sentiment with supposed preferential measures.
The CCP has investigated or pressured specific Taiwanese candidates and their businesses in China to influence election outcomes. It also spreads disinformation and directs online influence campaigns to sway public opinion and voter preferences.
