In recent years, China has employed a wide variety of military tactics to coerce Taiwan. Military exercises involving missile launches into waters near Taiwan have become increasingly common, as evidenced by the two Joint Sword drills conducted last year. Just last week, Taiwan accused China of sabotaging an undersea cable in northern Taiwan. Further investigations revealed that the vessel responsible belonged to a company based in Hong Kong. Daily intrusions by China’s fighter jets have nearly quadrupled, from 380 in 2019 to over 1,700 in 2023. These developments have undoubtedly heightened security concerns in the Taiwan Strait.
Similarly, China has employed various tools of economic coercion. Beijing has imposed restrictions on its citizens and students traveling to Taiwan since former Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen came into office in 2016, significantly weakening Taiwan’s tourism and higher education industries. In 2021 and 2022, China halted imports of important Taiwanese agricultural products, such as pineapples and apples, which are key exports for Taiwan. This action caused panic among local farmers.
Furthermore, China has used economic incentives to poach Taiwan’s diplomatic allies by offering them economic incentives, leading countries like Nicaragua and the Solomon Islands to sever ties with Taiwan. Since 2016, 10 of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies have switched to recognize the People’s Republic of China instead.
While military tactics and economic statecraft have garnered much of the world’s attention, there has been little discussion about how China leverages cultural and ethnic connections with Taiwan to achieve its political objectives.
Taiwan has deep cultural ties to China; both share similar languages and dialects, traditions, festivals, and values. Until recently, Taiwan’s formal education system relied heavily on Chinese literature, featuring classic texts that promote Confucian values, as well as courses on Chinese history and geography. It is unsurprising, then, that scholars have found Taiwanese citizens continue to regard Chinese culture as an integral part of what is considered authentic Taiwanese culture, despite escalating tensions across the strait.
Unlike military and economic approaches, where operations, incentives, and impacts are more readily detectable, the softer, cultural approach based on commonalities offers Beijing an alternative tool to influence Taiwanese citizens. Decades of research on social identity theory reveal that cultural closeness and familiarity strengthen in-group cohesion. In practice, this suggests that emphasizing cultural connections could make Taiwanese citizens less sensitive to the various forms of threats posed by China. This approach also reflects the philosophy of the Chinese strategist Sun Tzu, who stated, “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
Examples of this strategy can be seen at the turn of the new year. On January 1, the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command released a New Year’s video featuring the song “Chinese People” (中國人). The video was carefully tailored for the Taiwanese public, using traditional Chinese characters in its subtitles rather than the simplified version commonly used in China. The song is well-known in Taiwan, as it is a classic by Andy Lau, who recently performed it during a concert in Taipei. In addition to clips of PLA jets and naval vessels, the video also intentionally included clips of Chinese students visiting Taipei to increase its appeal.
This is not the first time the Eastern Theater Command has relied heavily on cultural similarities to influence people in Taiwan. In the New Year’s video of 2024, it rewrote a song widely popular in Taiwan to convey the message, “Reunification is Winning.” (回家才贏). No other Chinese Theater Command uploaded similar videos.
Such cultural-themed propaganda is unlikely to appeal to the majority of Taiwan’s citizenry. As of this writing, the video titled “Chinese People” has garnered only 5,500 views. According to research by National ChengChi University in Taiwan, only 2.2 percent of citizens identify as “Chinese only,” while the majority (64.3 percent) consider themselves Taiwanese.
However, the lack of clear impact from such videos does not suggest that such concerns are overblown; it may simply indicate that Beijing needs to refine its messaging and invest more time in crafting narratives that resonate with the public in Taiwan. One innovation Beijing could experiment with is infusing cultural operations alongside other existing tactics.
The “Chinese People” video from the Eastern Theater Command is clearly an example of a combination of military and cultural elements. It is reasonable to assume that more sophisticated operations incorporating cultural elements will emerge in the near future. Currently, the Chinese app TikTok boasts a user base of 5.65 million in Taiwan, which is rapidly growing. Such apps and other social media platforms are likely to provide the necessary channels for these operations to gain traction.
For Taiwan, countering cultural operations and safeguarding its democracy requires the following essential actions. First, it is important to identify vulnerable populations that may be susceptible to such operations. Strategies to enhance media literacy within these groups can be implemented with the support of local NGOs.
Second, Taiwan should harness its burgeoning cultural identity by embracing its journey of democratization and emphasizing its differences from China’s political system, particularly in values such as respect for democracy, the rule of law, freedom of speech, and human rights. Collective achievements, such as winning the recent World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 championship, can further solidify this identity.
In the context of closer Taiwan-U.S. relations, it is vital to expand beyond military and economic cooperation to include more people-to-people exchanges. These interactions can help foster new cultures, shared identities, and collective memories, forming a strong foundation for a global alliance against authoritarianism.