China Has ‘Very Diverse’ Ways Of Interfering In Election- Taiwan

China has “very diverse” ways of interfering in Taiwan’s elections in January, from military pressure to spreading fake news, including manipulating opinion polls, a Senior Taiwanese Security Official has said on Wednesday.

Ahead of elections, Taiwan routinely flags the risk of interference from Beijing, which claims the democratically governed island as its own, saying China seeks to sway the outcome to candidates who may be more favourable toward the Country.

“The way the Chinese Communists interfere in elections is very diversified,” Taiwan National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen told lawmakers during a Parliamentary committee session.

China can use military pressure, economic coercion or fake news to create a false choice between “war or peace” in the election, seeking to frighten voters, Tsai said.

“We are paying special attention to the Chinese Communists cooperating with opinion poll and public relations companies for the possibility of manipulating opinion polls and issuing them to interfere in the elections,” he added, without naming any companies.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not answer calls seeking comment. China is in the middle of its weeklong national day holiday.

Taiwan Vice President William Lai of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which champions the island’s separate identity from China, is the favourite to be the next president, according to opinion polls.

REUTERS