China's Internet Army Takes Aim at Taiwan: MND|國防部證實 中國"巨魔工廠"對台網攻

While the Pokémon GO phenomenon is sweeping over the entire world, another seemingly virtual power that can have surprising and strikingly complex influences in the real world is fake news spreading on the internet. National Defense officials have confirmed that a so called "Internet army" has been set up by Chinese government to influence people's opinions and behaviors through platforms such as Facebook and YouTube as part of its strategy to reunify the island. The Defense Ministry said it will make every effort to contain China's propaganda.


The term "troll factory" was first coined by CNN for Russia's dedicated facility to foster their internet army. Officials from the Ministry of National Defense said that China now has its own troll factory and it's recruiting members to confront Taiwan's intellectual space on platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. A legislator of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said that this army is part of the fifth branch of the People's Liberation Army, and it's main targets are Taiwan and the United States.

The number in the internet army keeps increasing. On December 31, 2015, 30,000 of the 100,000 members of that branch are in charge of internet warfare. Their main tasks include technical reconnaissance, electric and psychological warfare.

There has been an increase in the number of YouTube movies, with titles in simplified Chinese, that focus on topics related to cross-strait relations and national defense. Some academics believe that the wide-spread fake news might lead many to believe it's true.

Just like Joseph Goebbels (Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany) said, when lies are repeated for 100 times, it's believed to be true.

Chen Ming-tong, the head of the Ministry of Mainland Affairs, said that the spreading of fake news is part of China's effort to re-unify Taiwan.

This is part of the three warfares against Taiwan, including legal warfare and psychological warfare. They have cranked up the intensity on psychological warfare in recent days.

The Ministry of National Defense said that they will swiftly investigate the fake news spread by China and resort to legal measures if necessary.