Taiwan’s national security establishment has gone public with a stark and unsettling warning: China is waging a broad digital war against the island as it prepares for local elections next month. In a report submitted to parliament on Tuesday, the National Security Bureau described a relentless campaign of cyberattacks and disinformation aimed at Taiwan’s democratic institutions, military readiness, and public trust. The warning lands at a delicate moment. Taiwanese voters are scheduled to go to the polls on November 28 to choose city and county government officials, a vote that will shape local governance and carry outsized political symbolism. According to the intelligence agency, Taiwan has been absorbing an average of 2.6 million cyberattacks per day over the first nine months of the year, with activity intensifying since June. The scale is staggering, but the report goes beyond statistics. It identifies specific targets: academic and research institutions, telecommunications companies, and defense supply chains. It says China’s objective is to interfere with Taiwan’s defense operations, destabilize international partnerships, and steal sensitive technologies. Beijing has long claimed Taiwan as part of its territory and has repeatedly threatened to use force to bring the island back under its control. Taipei rejects that claim and sees Beijing’s actions as part of a broader strategy to erode confidence in democratic governance. For ordinary people, the report is not an abstract exercise in national security jargon. It is a reminder that the networks they rely on for work, school, communication, and daily life are contested space. Government websites are probed for weaknesses. Social media feeds are flooded with narratives crafted thousands of kilometers away. Beneath the calm surface of a shopping district or a school campus, a quiet struggle is under way over information and belief. The intelligence report is an attempt to make that struggle visible, and to remind citizens that they are both targets and participants in the defense of their own democracy.
The scale of the cyber threat is difficult to grasp. The National Security Bureau says China’s “cyber army” has been hammering Taiwan with an average of 2.6 million attacks each day. In the first nine months of the year, the intensity only grew. Since June, the pace has accelerated further. These are not random or amateur efforts. The report says Chinese operators have targeted Taiwan’s academic and research sectors, where new technologies are developed and where foreign researchers often exchange ideas. They have gone after telecommunications, seeking to compromise the infrastructure that carries phone calls, internet traffic, and messaging services. They have also struck defense supply chains, the often overlooked network of companies that produce components and services for Taiwan’s military. The purpose, according to intelligence officials, is to hobble the Taiwanese government’s ability to defend the country, to make international allies wary of collaborating, and to siphon off sensitive designs, contracts, and scientific knowledge. One of the most worrying trends is the use of artificial intelligence. The report specifically mentions AI agents that scan government websites for vulnerabilities, allowing attackers to discover weaknesses far faster than human teams could. In effect, China is industrializing the early stages of cyber warfare. For the cybersecurity analysts in Taipei’s agencies, this means an endless sequence of alerts, patches, and false alarms. For the broader population, it means that critical services — electricity, water, transport, healthcare — depend on systems that are constantly under pressure. A successful penetration could mean stolen identities, disrupted communications, or worse. The report offers no assurance that Taiwan can block every attack. Instead, it suggests that the battle is ongoing and that resilience depends on vigilance, investment, and cooperation across both public and private sectors.
If cyberattacks are the visible teeth of China’s campaign, disinformation is the quieter but equally corrosive weapon. The National Security Bureau reports that over the nine-month period, its officials collected more than 2.5 million pieces of disinformation spread by China’s ruling Communist Party. That marks a substantial increase from the roughly 1.7 million pieces collected during the same period a year earlier. The material is circulating mainly on Facebook and Threads, platforms that have become central to how Taiwanese people share news, debate politics, and organize their communities. The report says China has used diverse channels — including technological tools and human intermediaries — to influence the support preferences of voters and, ultimately, the outcome of the election. Disinformation can take many forms. A fabricated video might show a politician saying something offensive. A fake news site might report that a candidate is linked to organized crime. A network of dummy accounts might flood comment sections with identical talking points, creating the impression that a policy is broadly unpopular. Perhaps most insidious is the manipulation of genuine division: amplifying anger over housing prices, pensions, or social issues until it drowns out reasoned debate. The goal is not always to make people believe a specific lie. Sometimes it is easier to make people believe nothing at all. If voters become tired and cynical, if they conclude that all sides are corrupt and the system is rigged, they may withdraw from public life. Low voter turnout, bitter fractures within families, and a growing sense of helplessness are all acceptable outcomes for an operation designed to weaken Taiwan’s democracy from within. The report treats disinformation not as a nuisance but as a national security threat. It is a threat that enters people’s homes through the same screens they use to connect with loved ones. It is a threat that can be encountered in a private message from an acquaintance, a meme shared in a family group, or a trending hashtag that seems to have appeared out of nowhere. The numbers are enormous, but the true impact is measured in damaged trust and exhausted citizens.
The new warnings from Taiwan’s intelligence agency are best understood against a larger geopolitical backdrop. The Chinese government has never abandoned its claim that Taiwan is part of its territory. Over the years, it has combined diplomatic pressure, military exercises, economic coercion, and intelligence operations to press that claim. Beijing has repeatedly threatened to use force if necessary to prevent what it calls Taiwan’s independence. Taipei rejects the idea that Taiwan belongs to China and sees Beijing’s actions as a violation of its sovereignty. The National Security Bureau’s report accuses China of engaging in espionage and infiltration, in addition to cyberattacks and disinformation, in an effort to erode people’s confidence in the Taiwanese government. This is not a conventional war. There is no frontline in the traditional sense. Instead, the conflict is fought through phishing emails, stolen databases, fake social media profiles, and carefully targeted leaks. The report suggests that China is trying to undermine the integrity of Taiwan’s decision-making process, especially at moments of high political tension. Local elections may not carry the same global importance as a national referendum, but they are still a demonstration of how democracy works. They choose officials who manage schools, hospitals, roads, and public safety. If outside actors can shape those outcomes, they can affect the lives of millions of people in direct and personal ways. That is why the intelligence agency chose to share these findings with the public. It is not merely an intelligence assessment; it is a warning that the country’s democratic system is a target, and that each citizen has a role in protecting it. The report also hints at the human costs: officials who must double-check every document, researchers whose work is delayed by security reviews, and ordinary people who have to wonder whether an online conversation is real or manipulated. Living under such pressure can be exhausting, but it also clarifies what is at stake.
Taiwan has not been passive in the face of this digital assault. The National Security Bureau’s report is itself a form of defense, using transparency to expose an opponent that thrives in the shadows. Government teams are working around the clock to block attacks, identify malicious actors, and patch the vulnerabilities that AI agents are scanning for. The report’s focus on AI should be a wake-up call for countries everywhere. It shows how quickly cyber weapons are evolving and how difficult it is for open societies to keep up. Taiwan has also sought to strengthen its cybersecurity alliances with democratic partners, sharing intelligence and coordinating responses to common threats. The platforms where disinformation spreads — Facebook and Threads, among others — are coming under greater scrutiny. The report’s figures suggest that social media companies have not done enough to stop coordinated influence operations. Stronger enforcement, algorithm transparency, and cooperation with independent researchers are needed to blunt the effect of fake accounts and manipulated content. But technology alone cannot solve a problem that is ultimately about human psychology. Disinformation is effective because it taps into real fears, hopes, and identities. That is why civic education and digital literacy matter. Taiwanese organizations, from universities to local community groups, have begun to teach people how to evaluate sources, detect manipulated images, and recognize bot networks. Independent media also play an indispensable role. Journalists, including those at outlets like Hong Kong Free Press, continue to investigate and report on Chinese interference, often with limited resources and in the face of threats. Their work helps provide an alternative to the swirl of rumors and fabricated stories. Press freedom, in this context, is not a luxury. It is a necessary defensive institution, as important as a firewall or an emergency response team. And citizens, for their part, are becoming more resilient. They are learning to pause before sharing an article, to ask who is behind a page, and to be skeptical of content that seems designed to provoke anger. These small acts, repeated dozens of times a day, form a social immune system that no hacker can easily penetrate.
The November 28 election will arrive with democracy itself hanging in the balance. It will not be perfect, and it will not be free from interference. But it will be an election held by real people in real communities, and that is precisely what Beijing’s campaign seeks to diminish. The report from Taiwan’s National Security Bureau is a reminder that the cyberattacks and disinformation are not abstract acts of statecraft; they are assaults on the daily lives of voters. Every attack on a telecom network is an attack on a grandmother trying to call her grandchildren. Every false story about a candidate is an attempt to rob a citizen of the ability to make an informed choice. Every AI agent scanning a government website is a sign of an opponent that will not stop, and that expects exhaustion and resignation. Yet there is another side to the story. The very disclosure of the threat is an act of confidence in the public. Instead of silencing critics or restricting speech, the government has chosen to arm citizens with information. That choice reflects a fundamental difference between Taiwan and China. One country believes that control protects; the other believes that freedom requires vigilance. In the coming years, China will likely refine its methods. Artificial intelligence will make attacks faster and more difficult to trace. Disinformation will become more persuasive. But as the shadow war intensifies, the defense does not rest solely in government agencies. It rests in a teacher who teaches students how to spot propaganda, a son who questions a message forwarded by his father, a local journalist who refuses to be silenced. The election results will be determined by voters, but the future of Taiwan’s democracy will be determined by the spirit with which those voters meet the challenge. If the past is any guide, the Chinese pressure will strengthen, not weaken, the resolve of many Taiwanese to protect their way of life. The report may have intended to sound an alarm; it also drew a line. On one side are the tools of coercion and manipulation. On the other are the ordinary, stubborn, collectively hopeful acts of people who refuse to be deceived. That is the human story behind 2.6 million daily cyberattacks and 2.5 million pieces of disinformation. It is a story of a democracy learning to fight back, not with missiles, but with clarity and courage.