Taiwan says China using generative AI to ramp up disinformation and ‘divide’ the island

TAIPEI - China is using generative artificial intelligence (AI) to ramp up disinformation against Taiwan to “divide” Taiwan’s public, the island’s National Security Bureau said.

Taiwan has accused China of stepping up military drills, trade sanctions and influence campaigns against the island in recent years to force it to accept Chinese sovereignty claims. Taiwan strongly rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.

China staged two days of war games and live-fire drills near the democratically governed island in April, triggering concern by the US and many of its allies.

In a report to Parliament, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, the security bureau said it had detected more than half a million pieces of “controversial messages” so far in 2025, mostly seen on social media platforms including Facebook and TikTok.

Beijing has targeted sensitive moments – such as

President Lai Ching-te’s speech on China

in March, or chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s announcement of new US investment – to launch what the report said was “cognitive warfare”, adding that such efforts were “designed to create division among our society”.

“As the application of AI technology becomes more widespread and mature, it has also been found that the Chinese Communist Party has been using AI tools to assist in the generation and dissemination of controversial messages,” the report said.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment.

The report said China has also ramped up its “grey-zone” tactics against Taiwan, with a sharp increase so far in 2025 in the number of Chinese coast guard incursions as well as air balloons in Taiwan’s waters and airspace. Those moves have forced Taiwan to dispatch its own forces in response and depleted its resources, the report said.

Mr Lai, who says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future,

in March labelled China a “foreign hostile force”

.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under Chinese control. REUTERS