TAIPEI: China has launched a misinformation campaign that includes news reports Taiwan’s president has an “escape plan” in the event of a Chinese invasion, aiming to sap morale as Beijing presses the island to accept its sovereignty, Taiwan officials said.
Taiwan is on high alert for what it sees as China’s attempts to sway public opinion on the democratically governed island, including through illicitly funding Beijing-friendly candidates in the run-up to a presidential election next year, according to security reports reviewed by Reuters in June.
Taiwan will later this month hold its most important annual military exercises, known as the Han Kuang drills, that will include for the first time the temporary shutdown of its main international airport in a simulation of repelling enemies, as China ramps up military pressure on the island.
Starting in May, news reports that include misinformation on military activities by Taiwan and its main ally the United States have surfaced in Chinese state media, part of a campaign to sway opinion in Taiwan, according to several Taiwan officials with direct knowledge of the matter.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment.
At least a dozen of the news reports have said the Han Kuang exercises were in fact an “escape rehearsal” for Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and evacuation drills for US citizens in the event of a Chinese invasion, said the officials, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
“They want to portray the Han Kuang exercises into a rehearsal for an escape plan,” said one of the officials familiar with Taiwan’s security planning, adding that Beijing’s aim was to create panic and weaken public trust in Taiwan’s leadership.
The de facto US embassy in Taipei declined to comment.