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China's stale narratives attacking Taiwan's Han Kuang drills meet weak response, low clicks

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • China's annual attempts to discredit Taiwan's Han Kuang military exercises with familiar narratives have failed to gain traction this year.
  • Chinese state media and online platforms amplified narratives of Taiwanese leaders fleeing and military failures, but saw minimal engagement.
  • In contrast, Taiwanese military-produced content about the exercises achieved high viewership and positive public comments, highlighting a shift in information influence.

China's long-standing strategy to undermine Taiwan's annual Han Kuang military exercises through coordinated online attacks has fallen flat this year, observers say. The familiar narratives, which typically accuse foreign powers of interference, claim Taiwanese leaders will flee, or exaggerate accidents during the drills, have generated little interest.

The same old playbook, with the same old methods, has resulted in weak public attention and abysmal click-through rates.

— military observerDescribing the low engagement with Chinese narratives about the Han Kuang exercises.

This year's "Han Kuang 42" exercises saw a rehash of these tactics. Chinese state media outlets like Global Times and Beijing Daily labeled the drills as futile efforts. Narratives emerged claiming the "Wan Chun exercise" was a "Lai Ching-te escape rehearsal" and that Americans watched Lai "practice escaping in a tank." Incidents like a tank's escape hatch falling off and an F-16 jet veering off the runway were amplified. These themes, including doubts about U.S. involvement, Taiwan's military capabilities, and President Lai, failed to resonate.

This exercise is right, the more unfavorable the environment and the harsher the conditions, the closer it is to the battlefield.

— commenterOn a Taiwanese military video about the Han Kuang exercises.

Despite Beijing's efforts, the reach of these narratives has significantly diminished. One pro-China platform, "Sun Moon Tan Sky" on Facebook, posted over 50 Reels in 10 days with fewer than 150,000 total views, some as low as 626. Meanwhile, Taiwanese military content thrived. Videos from the Ministry of National Defense spokesperson, "Youth Daily," and "Military News Agency" garnered hundreds of thousands of views, with comments praising the drills and thanking the military for protecting national security.

A strong national army is the strong backing of the Republic of China.

— commenterOn a Taiwanese military video about the Han Kuang exercises.

While the coordinated smear campaign by China and its local collaborators has so far failed to gain traction, military observers warn that Beijing's ultimate goal remains to cripple Taiwan's defense autonomy, not just to generate low-viewership content. The shift in online engagement suggests a growing resilience among the Taiwanese public to Chinese information warfare tactics.

Thank you, heroes of the national army. The arduous drills are all for protecting national security. Stay hydrated in the hot weather.

— commenterOn a Taiwanese military video about the Han Kuang exercises.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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