Read “Cross-Stré Shadows: inside the Chinese influence campaign against Taiwan” (Part I here and Part II here))
Taipei, Taiwan – marketed as a cross collaboration, “Taiwan’s Voice” presents itself as a local comment platform. But behind the hosts and the familiar studio are a deeper link with the Chinese state media.
In the past year, Asia Fact Check Lab has retraced how the content produced in Taiwan, but aligned with Chinese accounts, infiltrates the island’s media landscape through what it calls the “Fujian network”.
With smooth production and recognizable faces, these shows blur the border between inner discourse and foreign influence – part of the calm thrust of Beijing to shape public opinion in Taiwan.
What is the “Taiwan voice”?
The show “La Voix de Taiwan” or “寶島, 報到!” In Chinese, is marketed as an original program of news and trans-trait comments designed to “speak through the mouth borrowed”, by inviting Pan-Bleu’s “opinion leaders” to serve as guest commentators and to improve the efficiency of messaging directed to Taiwan.
The program – Launched in 2019 – is operated by “Straits TV”, a subsidiary of the Fujian broadcasting and television group in China.
According to a press release from Fujian Provincial Radio and Television Bureau, the program was recognized as a “model of media integration in the province of Fujian in 2021” and recommended for the election of the National Radio and Television Chinese Administration.
The program qualified as collaboration between the features “produced jointly by press teams on both sides”, without mentioning which Taiwanese team actually worked with TV Straits.
Despite this framing, the program presents Pro-Chinese Taiwanese commentators and content designed for Chinese public, frequently using continental Chinese terminology.
Who really produces the show?
When monitoring programs, the AFCL noticed a detail: in an episode, an guest of the show, the new city councilor of the Taipei party, Hou Han-Ting, thanks the live viewers at the start and mentions that he came from a budget review session at the municipal council and took a taxi in the studio. This suggests that the recording took place in Taiwan.
In another video, the guest host interacted with off -screen staff, confirming a cooperative relationship between Straits TV and Chung T’ien Television, or CTITV, a broadcaster based in Taipei.
Interviews with media initiates later confirmed that the program was recorded in a studio operated by CTITV in Taipei.
CTTTV, owned by the Pro-China Want group, is known to promote tales suitable for Beijing. In 2020, the Taiwan media regulator revoked its license on repeated disinformation and biases.
CitTV denied allegations and regulators accused of bias, but the chain would not have explained the nature of its content and its collaborations related to China.
Since then, the diffuser has passed to digital platforms to continue its operations, broadcasting its online content via its YouTube channel and via its dedicated mobile application.
Interviews and content comparisons confirm at least one practical partnership between CTITV and TV Straits. This includes the sharing of content and the supply of production facilities and staff, jointly producing the politically targeted program “La Voix de Taiwan”.
When asked if the scripts are from China, an employee of the CTITV denied the complaint, saying that the producers choose the subjects and that the guests are responsible for the preparation of their own scripts.
Two CTITV employees, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFCL that they did not think that the Chinese authorities were directly intervened in the operations of the diffuser.
However, they pointed out that you wanted the pro-chinual position of the president of the Tsai Eng-Meng group, suggesting that the editorial management of CTITV can already be influenced by Tsai in a way that aligns the story of Beijing.
Cittv did not respond to AFCL’s requests.
Legal gray area
While the Taiwanese law prohibits unauthorized political collaboration between local organizations and Chinese entities, the application of the law remains a challenge.
Under the current law, such collaborations must be approved by the relevant authority – but what constitutes “political content” or “cooperation” remains vague.
The Council for Continental Affairs, a Taiwanese administrative agency which oversees the policy of relations between traits, targeting continental China, Hong Kong and Macao, confirmed to the AFCL that all cross-production co-productions require pre-apploitation.
But in practice, responsibility is disseminated between various agencies such as the Ministry of Culture, the National Commission for Communications or the CCN and the Ministry of Digital Affairs.
Journalism professor at the National University of Taiwan, Hung, Chen-Ling, noted that if such activities can break the law, the sanctions are weak.
“Even if someone reports a violation, the fine could be a few thousand dollars. For people involved, the benefits often prevail over the cost,” she said.
Another obstacle is the challenge of regulating the co-productions of inter-work media in the digital age. Although cable emissions to Taiwan are subject to licenses and surveillance, these mechanisms have a limited online range.
Although traditional television content must comply with established regulations, the rise in digital platforms and native Internet programming has introduced application gaps.
While more and more broadcasters are pivoting online distribution, it becomes more difficult for the authorities to monitor the content – potentially allowing the media affiliated abroad to reach the Taiwanese public with a less regulatory meticulous examination.
Edited by Chih Te Lee and Taejun Kang.
Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was created to counter disinformation in the complex media environment today. We publish the verifications of the facts, the media schedules and the in -depth reports which aim to sharpen and to deepen the understanding of our readers of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us Facebook,, Instagram And X.