Why is one of Taiwan’s largest media groups spreading anti-U.S. rhetoric?
Illustration by Luis Grañena
Last month, a surprising number of people in Taiwan became utterly convinced that America is planning to destroy their island home.
It all started, as misinformation does, on social media, when a D.C.-based commentator wrote a flippant tweet about President Biden’s “plan for the destruction of Taiwan.” Initially, it drew little attention, but then the comment was translated into Chinese and posted on Facebook, where it went viral. From there, CTI News — a popular YouTube news channel in Taiwan — went on to produce at least 10 segments about “the plan to destroy Taiwan.”
Screenshots from CTI YouTube videos covering 毀滅台灣計畫, 'the plan to destroy Taiwan'.
Biden’s supposed plan even found its way into the daily press conference of China’s foreign ministry in Beijing, with the nation's spokesperson, Mao Ning, saying it had “been revealed by the media that the U.S. government has a plan for the destruction of Taiwan.”
The narrative was
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