Mainland China has recently produced and distributed hundreds of podcasts carrying pro-Beijing messages to Taiwan’s audiences, raising concerns that sentiments on the self-ruled island could be tilted by the Chinese Communist Party’s misinformation.

Pro-mainland content focusing on “cross-strait kinship” and young people across the strait was found among 158 podcasts created by the mainland’s state-owned broadcaster China Radio International, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.

Beijing has also employed content creators to pose as wives married to Taiwanese men, who then leveled criticisms at Taiwan’s government and policies in their online radio programs, the CNA quoted an unnamed person involved in Taiwan’s national security as saying.

The latest use of podcasts is part of Beijing’s information warfare aimed at Taiwan. Its strategy has involved state-run media outlets such as the People’s Daily opening accounts on online platforms including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and distributing edited short videos.

Beside state-run media outlets, Taiwan-born online stars nurtured by the mainland have also produced videos on their own channels to echo Beijing’s views. These include claims that Taiwanese people are Chinese people, and that Taiwan and the mainland would soon be unified, CNA reported.

As podcasts and other online platforms have become popular in Taiwan, there are concerns that the mainland is using them to spread misinformation to Taiwan audiences, the source said.

Liu Shu-ting, a policy analyst at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research in Taiwan, said it would rely on the island’s people to identify and screen misinformation to deal with Beijing’s information warfare.

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