The Political Split at the Heart of Taiwan’s Struggle against Foreign Disinformation

Agust Börjesson and Yi-Chieh Chen

Issue & Policy Briefs February, 2024

Taiwan’s struggle against foreign disinformation and concerns about China’s impact on its 2024 election has received much international attention recently. This issue brief examines the domestic and international politics behind Taiwan’s struggle against foreign disinformation. A significant push towards dealing with foreign disinformation has been undertaken during the eight-year rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), both in terms of strengthening democratic resilience and seeking support and cooperation from international partners. This push has launched Taiwan’s issue into the international arena, in line with the DPP’s strategy for closer cooperation with other “like-minded” democracies. However, Taiwan’s domestic split between the DPP and Kuomintang (KMT) on how to manage relations with China will remain a significant obstacle. Without closer convergence on how to approach the issue of foreign disinformation between the DPP and the KMT, the issue will remain prone to becoming politicized in domestic political competition. This keeps Taiwan’s struggle against foreign disinformation from transcending party politics and translating into national security on a bipartisan foundation.

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