The top US representative in Taiwan says Washington is working with it to combat efforts by Beijing to influence upcoming elections on the island.
The US is “aware that China is attempting to apply pressure through various means on Taiwan ... To influence Taiwan’s democratic process,” Brent Christensen told reporters on Friday.
“We believe that malign actors are using disinformation campaigns to make people lose faith in democratic institutions,” said Christensen, who serves as the de facto US ambassador to Taipei.
The US and Taiwan have been “working very closely to combat these disinformation efforts” by sharing information and experience and mobilising civil society, he said.
Independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen is seeking a second term in the January 11 vote for head of state and lawmakers.
China is believed to strongly favor Tsai’s main opponent in the race, Han Kuo-yu of the Beijing-friendly Nationalist Party. Self-governing Taiwan split from China in 1949 and transitioned to full democracy in the 1990s. China claims the island as its own territory, which it threatens to annex by military force, and opposes all official contact between the US and the island.
Despite the lack of formal diplomatic relations, the US is legally bound to ensure the island can defend itself and to treat all threats to it as matters of “grave concern.”