China Steps Up Transnational Repression Ahead of Elections, by Brian Hioe – 30 October 2026

China has stepped up efforts to intimidate Taiwan ahead of elections in November. This has occurred with the usual combination of domestic threats and military exercises. Nevertheless, one can point to a discernible effort to project power over Taiwan.

In particular, China released high-resolution satellite images of Taiwan, as well as a propaganda poster, on the anniversary of the handover of Taiwan from Japanese to ROC control.

The satellite imagery was designed to convey a sense of having already penetrated Taiwan, such that it can observe Taiwan easily from without–and to contribute to the sense that the Chinese military could take Taiwan at any time. To this extent, as with any display of Chinese military hardware, this would also be signalling between the two militaries, with the Chinese government showing its capacities to the ROC military as a means of intimidation.

One can perceive attacks that have occurred in Taiwan in recent memory as similarly aimed at projecting power. News broke earlier this month of the indictment of five men over a plot to hit stand-up comic Huang Yi-hao with a car, in retribution for a comedy show in which Huang mocked Chinese president Xi Jinping.

The five men slammed into Huang with a car, injuring his pelvis, after being ordered to hurt Huang enough to hospitalize him. Subsequently, they acted as though the incident was an accident and assisted Huang with an insurance claim. Huang was not injured as heavily as those who ordered the attack wished, who were to pay the attackers 450,000 NT for successfully hospitalizing Huang.

News of the plot to attack Huang follows suit from the indictment of two men over a May attack on a comedy club where Huang was performing, during which the comedy club had a mixture of feces and paint thrown at its entrance. A 35-year-old man surnamed Kuo was reportedly paid 50,000 NT by a 33-year-old man surnamed Liu to carry out the attack.

Earlier this year, political commentator Akio Yaita was attacked in a Taichung hotel where he was giving a speech. The attacker had flown in for the attack from Hong Kong, and subsequently attempted to flee abroad.

It is to be seen if other potential attacks take place ahead of elections. The uptick in such violence, conducted as a means of transnational repression by China, may be intended to influence elections and also convey the message that China already observes Taiwan closely and will retaliate against criticism. Nevertheless, such efforts at intimidation may not cow Taiwan, but instead have the effect of pushing Taiwan further away.

Brian Hioe is a freelance journalist, translator, and one of the founding editors of New Bloom.

This article first appeared in New Bloom and is republished here with permission.

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