Civil Defense Group Shows Public How To Fight Chinese Disinformation
Civil defense group Kuma Academy is teaching people in Taiwan how to fight Chinese disinformation ahead of the presidential election.
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00:00 "The Party-State-Politics-United-China"
00:03 combating Chinese disinformation ahead of a crucial election.
00:08 There are just weeks left until Taiwan chooses its next president,
00:12 and China, which claims Taiwan and threatens to invade,
00:16 is trying to affect the outcome.
00:18 Using tactics like disinformation,
00:21 civil defense group Kuma Academy held this public workshop
00:25 to inform voters of what they should look out for.
00:28 The organization has held hundreds of lessons like this one over the past year,
00:33 ranging from educating people on countering China's cognitive warfare against Taiwan
00:38 to providing basic knowledge on what to do if a war breaks out.
00:43 The academy normally charges for its classes,
00:46 but held this outdoor event in the central city of Taichung for free
00:50 to spread awareness of Chinese efforts to the public.
00:54 "General citizens, they need not only media literacy,
00:58 they need some sort of ability to do, let's say, open source intelligence.
01:03 They could trace, I mean, who are the cyber army.
01:06 They could check maybe what's the source code, I mean, for certain websites.
01:11 I mean, to understand the real strategy from China
01:14 would be something that we need to learn."
01:16 Kuma Academy founder Pu Ma-shen says
01:21 China only needs to change the minds of 3% of voters
01:25 based on the 40 million who voted in the 2020 election.
01:28 That's about 400,000 people.
01:31 Beijing's trying to get them to vote for a more China-friendly candidate.
01:36 With less than a month until Taiwan's presidential election,
01:39 many voters are concerned about Chinese interference.
01:43 This crowd is full of people of all ages,
01:47 braving the cold weekend weather.
01:49 "We need to prevent fake news from spreading.
01:51 Because people are so convinced of those
01:53 fake, scary signs.
01:56 I think this is a very, very important issue."
01:59 "In the past, the spy was by your side.
02:00 Now it's not the spy, it's the internet."
02:04 "I think it was after the 2018 election
02:08 that I realized Taiwan was seriously affected.
02:10 So since then, I've been very worried about every election."
02:14 Some attendees at the event say
02:16 they've already felt the effects of Chinese manipulation,
02:20 both online and off.
02:21 "Too many videos are made in China.
02:25 Many people will lose their videos."
02:26 "For example, some local temples and organizations
02:32 will use some resources
02:35 to participate in the volunteer activities
02:38 and lead the activities.
02:42 For example, they will invite people to the South Pole.
02:45 They can say that they are not willing to be controlled by China."
02:47 Many people here say they don't want to be ruled by China
02:51 and are apprehensive about a more Beijing-friendly candidate
02:54 taking office.
02:56 This shows that China will play a pivotal role
02:58 in the election outcome.
03:00 But that KADME hopes its training
03:02 means people vote based on candidate policy,
03:05 not on disinformation.
03:07 "Thank you to all of our attendees today."
03:09 Kwan Wang and Yu Jun Huang in Taichung for Taiwan Plus.
03:13 (Chinese)