Since May this year, the Chinese seem to have mounted a disinformation campaign in Taiwan aimed at weakening the DPP. The DPP's image is being affected not only by the campaign but also by internal dissatisfaction with the DPP government in its handling of the Covid pandemic. Popular You Tuber and veteran democracy activist Yang Zhao, who has been supportive of the DPP till recently has released, via video, a scathing attack on the DPP’s authoritarianism, which mostly seems to be based on lack of transparency over the vaccine procurement and administration. The Taiwan-based IORG, an NGO that has been tracking and studying disinformation, in its report dated June 10, 2021, stated that "The narrative “America hasn’t sold vaccines to Taiwan” was first observed by IORG from Chinese state media “Tong Shuo” (通說), echoed by “The Reacher” (觸極者), a Taiwanese content farm operated by Lin Zheng-guo (林正國) who is affiliated with the New Party (新黨). Global Times chief editor Hu Xi-jin (胡锡进) and multiple Chinese state media outlets quoted a saying from Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on May 19 that “America hasn’t sold a single dose of vaccines to Taiwan” (美國沒賣台灣任何一支疫苗). This narrative spread on Facebook, Twitter, and Weibo even after May 27 when 150,000 doses of Moderna vaccines were confirmed to arrive in Taiwan. Moreover, the CCP has seized this opportunity in criticizing the Taiwanese government by reiterating narratives such as “not buying Chinese vaccines is being possessed by political demons” (政治心魔) and “taking vaccines from Japan is using the pandemic to plot for independence” (以疫謀獨). Till June 20 too, after 2.5 million doses of the Monderna vaccine arrived in Taiwan and when the number of new cases had risen on June 20 to 103, prominent KMT figures have continued to criticise Taiwan President and DPP leader Tsai Ing-wen a "vaccine beggar" and are claiming that the supply of vaccines by the U.S. is U.S. interference in Taiwan's domestic politics to favour the DPP. Senior figures in the U.S. government are reportedly commenting on how surprised they are at the vitriol that has characterized the opposition's behaviour during the pandemic. Blue social media are awash in terms of calling Tsai a "devil," etc, which may or may not be an improvement on earlier references to her as "virgin Tsai."
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