TAIPEI –

As Chinese warships and fighter jets staged massive drills around Taiwan in December, a parallel action was unfolding on smartphone screens.

On Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, a news outlet run by the Chinese Communist Party posted a 51-second video of Taiwan opposition leader Cheng Li-wun accusing Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te of inviting Chinese aggression. 

Lai, Cheng said, was “dragging all 23 million of us” in Taiwan into a “dead end, a road to death” by pursuing independence. The clip quickly surfaced on Facebook, YouTube and other platforms popular in Taiwan.