Taiwan’s top spies have laid bare China’s audacious plot to conquer minds before maps. Through a mix of sham websites, zombie accounts, and algorithmic trickery, Beijing is waging what it dubs ‘cognitive warfare’ against the democratic island.
The NSB’s 2025 report logs staggering figures: 45,000 bogus social media profiles and 2.314 million deceptive posts neutralized. IT and marketing proxies, answering to the Central Publicity Department and public security organs, power this assault.
Companies like Haimai and Haixunshe craft deceptive sites that graduate from viral bait to divisive politics, all to fracture Taiwanese society, blunt resistance, undermine allies, and cultivate mainland loyalty.
Military maneuvers saw cyber onslaughts peak at 2.09 million hits per day on official networks. In counteraction, Taiwan is forging ties with verification groups and tech giants to expose and erase the fakes.
This isn’t mere meddling—it’s a full-spectrum information war. As NSB leaders emphasize, protecting the narrative is as vital as defending the shores in an era of hybrid threats.