At the January 28 press conference of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, a reporter asked: Taiwanese media have reported that, in order to so-called “prevent minors from accessing age-inappropriate content and potential cybersecurity risks,” Taiwan’s “Ministry of Digital Affairs” has for the first time proposed a list of high cybersecurity-risk apps, which includes TikTok, Weibo, WeChat, Xiaohongshu, and Baidu Cloud, and has provided it to the education authorities for reference. What is your comment on this?
TAO spokesperson Zhang Han responded that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities’ hype about so-called “cybersecurity risks” of mainland applications is driven by sinister motives. By doing so, they are depriving the people of Taiwan—especially young people—of their right to know and their freedom to use social media platforms, cutting off channels for cross-Strait exchanges, and deliberately stirring up the so-called “resist China, protect Taiwan” narrative. What this exposes is their inner fear and “unease.”
He said that the DPP authorities’ arbitrary behavior will inevitably backfire on them. Their retrograde actions cannot stop the popular trend among the people of Taiwan—especially young people—to learn about the mainland and to come to know and grow closer to their compatriots there.