As Chinese warships and fighter jets staged massive drills around Taiwan in December, a parallel action was unfolding on smartphone screens.

On Douyin, China¡¯s version of TikTok, a news outlet run by the Chinese Communist Party posted a 51-second video of Taiwan opposition leader Cheng Li-wun accusing Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te of inviting Chinese aggression.?

Lai, Cheng said, was ¡°dragging all 23 million of us¡± in Taiwan into a ¡°dead end, a road to death¡± by pursuing independence. The clip quickly surfaced on Facebook, YouTube and other platforms popular in Taiwan.