TAIPEI – The crowds cheered as dozens of young Taiwanese busted out their moves for the viral ke mu san dance against the backdrop of Taipei’s famous Ningxia Night Market.

But not everyone was happy.

The seemingly innocuous dance competition held in late January sparked widespread debate online – and it all boiled down to the dance of choice, which features exaggerated hand gestures and a constant swaying of the legs at the knees. 

Detractors do not object to the dance moves but to the dance’s Chinese origins.

Ke mu san – which means “subject three” in Chinese and is said to be named when its creator passed the third subject in his driving test, according to one version – was first popularised via Douyin, the China-only version of international social media platform TikTok, where the dance also subsequently became a sensation.

“Looks like this is the Douyin night market in mainland China,” read a comment from a Facebook user on a post advertising the competition. 

Others complained that the dance was a Chinese propaganda tool to “brainwash” Taiwanese youth, and more than one Facebook event was created to boycott the dance competition.

People in Taiwan use TikTok and not Douyin, but confusingly refer to the platform using the latter name.

Still, given TikTok’s Chinese link – its parent company ByteDance was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs – there are concerns in some quarters over the growing popularity of the app, which some argue could become a powerful tool for China to wage “cognitive warfare” against Taiwan and spread narratives favourable to Beijing.

“TikTok has become so popular among young Taiwanese that some of them have started using mainland Chinese terms in their everyday language,” said National Taiwan University political scientist Chen Shih-min, who has seen it happen among his 11-year-old daughter and her friends.

One Chinese term they have been using is shi pin to refer to “video”, instead of ying pian, which is traditionally preferred in Taiwan, he noted. Some users have also started using the mainland Chinese slang niu bi to describe something that is awesome.

“There is no denying the influence of TikTok, which can be worrying, depending on the content being pushed,” added Associate Professor Chen, who looked at TikTok content daily for six weeks before January’s presidential election. 

During that period, the overwhelming majority of politics-related content had depicted President-elect Lai Ching-te of the ruling independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party in a negative light, said Prof Chen.

The more mainland-friendly opposition candidate Ko Wen-je was often portrayed positively and as someone who could be better trusted as a leader.

“If the content ends up always becoming one-sided this way, that could greatly influence how Taiwanese youth view Taiwan and China,” said Prof Chen.

According to a December 2023 poll by the Taiwan Information Environment Research Centre, Taiwan’s TikTok users were more likely to accept certain pro-China views, compared with those who did not use the app. 

For instance, 46.4 per cent of those who used TikTok said they agreed that it was necessary for Taiwan to sign various trade agreements with China for its economy to prosper – more than 10 percentage points higher than the 31.4 per cent of non-TikTok users who held this belief. 

And 51.8 per cent of TikTok users said they agreed that the Taiwanese government’s closer relations with the United States was “provoking” China and could start a cross-strait war, compared with the 38.8 per cent of non-TikTok users who said so.

TikTok has become Taiwan’s third most popular social media platform, after Facebook and Instagram, according to a separate report by the non-profit Taiwan Network Information Centre.

More than a fifth of Taiwanese use TikTok, the August 2023 report added, with most of these users aged 18 to 29, as well as 40 to 49. 

Associate Professor Huang Jaw-nian, an expert in media influence operations at Taipei’s National Chengchi University, said there is not enough evidence to conclude if TikTok is actively promoting or suppressing certain narratives. 

The apparent prevalence of more Beijing-friendly perspectives on the app could be partly due to the fact that those who are more cautious of China do not use it in the first place, he said.

Moreover, TikTok is banned on Taiwanese government devices over cyber-security concerns – a move similar to that in other places, such as the US and Australia.

That means that members of the ruling party had also stayed away from the app during the election campaign season. 

“If they’re not on it, then they cannot push their own agenda nor actively debunk any disinformation,” said Prof Huang.

“That potentially leaves users trapped in an echo chamber where they are constantly fed only one type of viewpoint.” 

According to a December 2023 blog post by TikTok, the company had set up an in-app election guide during the campaign season containing links to official resources by Taiwan’s Central Election Commission (CEC).

TikTok also established a dedicated reporting channel for the CEC and the National Police Agency for users to flag content they believe may be in breach of any local electoral laws, said the post. 

For university student Lin Huai-chen, 21, scrolling through TikTok has become a daily pre-bedtime ritual. She views mostly travel and food videos, and has a laugh over some of the comedy clips.

“I don’t look for anything related to politics. I’m not interested in any of that,” she insisted.

But it is not just obvious political content that is a potential cause for concern.

Experts said that subtle messaging found in other content, even in a make-up tutorial video from China, could prove more sinister.

“It seems harmless, but what if that content creator keeps pushing ideas including how Chinese make-up products are better than Taiwanese products, and then use that to talk about how China is better than Taiwan in other ways?” said Prof Huang. 

“Something like that is enough to influence how someone thinks,” he added.

Ms Lin is not convinced by such arguments, saying critics of the ke mu san event are “overthinking”. “It’s just a fun dance – it’s not going to make Taiwanese want to suddenly pursue unification,” she said.

Beijing views Taiwan as its own territory and seeks “peaceful reunification” with the island, although surveys have shown that the majority of Taiwanese want to maintain the status quo of de facto independence.

Mr Lin Ting-kuo, chairman of the Ningxia Night Market Association, which organised the dance contest, told local reporters that people should not read too much into the event.

“We are using music and dance to try to increase consumer spending and increase the visibility of the night market. That’s all,” he said.