Defense/Military - 3. page

Chinese commentator Li Yi, often described as a “Chinese Communist Party (CCP) national strategist,” reacted emotionally after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were captured by U.S. forces on January 3, 2026 during a significant U.S. military operation that resulted in their transfer to American custody.

In a livestream on January 4, Li became visibly upset while discussing the event, at one point slapping his own face and choking up as he spoke. He expressed shock that, although Caracas is about 3,300 km from Washington, the U.S. was still able to capture Maduro and his wife alive and fly them out. Li bluntly said, “I feel like I’m not even human anymore,” after previously repeatedly asserting that Maduro could withstand U.S. pressure.

Li’s intense reaction and behavior quickly attracted widespread online attention and mockery from netizens and commentators. Some analysts and observers suggested that his emotional response reflected the stark contrast between the decisive U.S. military action and the perceived capabilities of China’s own military forces, highlighting strategic embarrassment within certain pro-China commentary circles.

Source: Yahoo Taiwan, January 5, 2026
https://tw.news.yahoo.com/見馬杜洛被活捉-中共國師李毅哽咽-自搧巴掌-律師揭崩潰原因-225600131.html

An overseas Chinese military-focused social media commentator known as “Speak Truthful Words Xu” (“說真話的徐某人”) posted an audio recording on X on December 18, alleging that another influencer, “Sunset Pirate” (“落日海盜”), attempted to recruit him in September 2024 to produce pro-China content. The recording reportedly captures Sunset Pirate claiming to act as an intermediary for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and offering Xu €40,000 per month (approximately NT$1.48 million) to highlight perceived weaknesses in Taiwan’s military in ways that could undermine public confidence in Taiwan’s defense.

After the audio circulated online, Sunset Pirate deleted all of his social media accounts and has not responded publicly. Xu later uploaded the 43-minute unedited recording to his YouTube channel. The conversations involve several Chinese and foreign online personalities. Xu, who is believed to be based in Italy and focuses on international military affairs, is known for posting content supportive of Taiwan, which has been widely cited by Taiwanese media.

In the recording, Sunset Pirate claims to have previously worked in Beijing’s public security system, specializing in intelligence and information operations, and says he has recruited influencers in Japan, Italy, and the United States to promote Chinese traditional culture. He reportedly told Xu that maintaining an “objective” tone on overseas Chinese platforms could help deter Taiwan independence, and outlined strategies for subtly shaping discussions without overt political messaging. He also suggested that criticism of the Chinese Communist Party might be tolerated as long as it did not target Xi Jinping directly, and discussed producing content on the Ukraine war for internal use by his organization.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), December 20, 2025
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202512200196.aspx

Taiwanese national security authorities said that several audio recordings recently circulated online allegedly reveal admissions by officials of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) regarding interference in Taiwan’s elections.

The recordings reportedly document discussions in 2018 between a PLA Strategic Support Force official surnamed Ding and Qi Zhongxiang, head of Beijing Womin High-Tech Co., Ltd.

According to the recordings, the PLA allocated approximately 20 million yuan (US$3 million) to its affiliated 56th Research Institute—publicly known as the Jiangnan Institute of Computing Technology—to purchase a “public opinion sentiment analysis system” from Womin. The system was allegedly intended to analyze, predict, and manipulate public opinion in Taiwan, with a particular focus on the 2018 Kaohsiung mayoral election.

In the first recording, Ding is heard saying that an initial 5 million yuan budget would be used to interfere in Taiwan’s 2018 local elections. If the operation proved successful, an additional 15 million yuan would be invested ahead of Taiwan’s 2020 presidential election to support more extensive election forecasting and influence efforts.

In the second recording, Ding emphasizes the importance of technological tools for controlling public opinion and describes the Kaohsiung mayoral race as strategically critical. He claims to have accurately predicted the election outcome, saying that while others believed Han Kuo-yu would lose, he believed Han would win—an assessment he said later proved correct.

In the third recording, Qi claims that his company had already monitored and controlled six million Facebook accounts in Taiwan, with plans to expand that number to ten million. Taiwan’s security agencies assess that these accounts were used to spread disinformation, inflame social divisions, and interfere with voting behavior, actions described by those involved as “contributing to national reunification.”

Source: Up Media, December 27, 2025
https://www.upmedia.mg/tw/investigation/political/248238