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China’s influence operations are expanding across the Indo-Pacific. In Japan, disinformation circulated on social media during the House of Representatives election in February 2026 in what appeared to be a coordinated Chinese influence operation. Posts on X systematically spread memes promoting narratives such as “Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae is a militarist” and “Japan cannot win in a Taiwan contingency.” The Japanese text bore traces of simplified Chinese, some meme images resembled those used in Chinese government affiliated media, and the narratives aligned with Chinese government talking points — all pointing to a coordinated Chinese operation.
Russian influence operations targeting elections have been documented in Western countries since around 2015; in the Indo-Pacific region, Chinese operations targeting elections have also been observed since the 2020s.
Chinese influence operations in the Indo-Pacific have long attracted attention in Taiwan and in English-speaking countries including the United States and Australia. In Taiwan, disinformation attributed to China was disseminated during the 2018 and 2022 local elections, and in the 2024 presidential election, disinformation targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members who were distancing themselves from China. In the United States, President Donald Trump cited Chinese influence operations targeting the 2020 presidential election at a press conference on July 16, 2026; U.S. intelligence documents released the same day concluded that China had conducted influence operations ahead of the 2020 election to damage public opinion of the Trump administration and undermine Washington’s international reputation. In Australia, China has been conducting influence operations on politics since the mid-2010s, and in the 2025 general election these extended into disinformation in digital spaces.
