Psychological Warfare: From the Kinmen Broadcasting Wall to the Paradigm Shift in AI Cognitive Operations

30-Second Overview:
Cross-strait "psychological warfare" (psychological operations) is undergoing a fundamental transformation from "physical media" to "digital semantics." In the 1960s-1980s, Taiwan conducted incentive offensives against mainland China using the Kinmen Beishan Broadcasting Wall, Deng Lijun's warm appeals, and dropped "defection food" including pineapple cakes, instant noodles, and even underwear ^{1 2 3}. Entering 2024-2026, the offensive and defensive postures have shifted; mainland China has turned to "AI industrialized cognitive warfare," while Taiwan has shifted to using digital penetration for "democratic value dissemination" and "information asymmetry counterattacks" ^{4 5 6}. This is a long-term evolution from competing for "stomachs" to competing for "brain cognition" and "value identity."

Voices and Stomachs: Historical Details of Taiwan's Psychological Warfare Against China

At the peak of Cold War confrontation, Taiwan's psychological warfare strategy against mainland China was built on the foundation of "disparities in living standards" and "political freedom incentives." This was a "heart-winning" process highly dependent on physical contact.

The Radio War: More Than Just Deng Lijun's Voice

Kinmen's Mashan Observation Post and Beishan Broadcasting Wall were the concrete embodiments of sonic weapons at that time ¹. In addition to Deng Lijun's "Sweet Honey," the radio programs of that era were highly targeted:

• Specific Programs and Call Signs: Radio Taiwan International (RTI)'s broadcasts to the mainland included call signs such as "Voice of Free China" (Voice of Free China). Program content covered "Measures for Rewarding Defection and Uprising," real-time news from Taiwan, and commentary on the chaotic situation of the Cultural Revolution ².
• Defection and Uprising Phase: Broadcasts repeatedly reported "defection headings" and "landing signals," providing detailed guidance on how mainland pilots could fly to Taoyuan or Ching Chuan Kang Air Force Bases, promising rewards of thousands to tens of thousands of taels of gold ⁷.
• Psychological Anchors: Leveraging mainland citizens' longing for "home," warm broadcasts were played during festivals, contrasting living standards across the strait and making "fleeing to freedom" a concrete life choice.

Dropped Object List: A Precise Display of "Lifestyle"

Dropped object operations were not merely about distributing leaflets; they were a visual and material exhibition about "modern life."

📝 Curator's Note: The "instant noodles" in the dropped objects were a highly shocking symbol for mainland China at that time. This industrial product, ready to eat upon opening and featuring multiple seasoning packets, represented an unimaginable "efficiency" and "abundance" to mainland citizens still living under a rationing system.

Modern Evolution: Taiwan's Digital Penetration Strategy Against China

Entering 2026, traditional balloons and loudspeakers have moved to the background. Taiwan's psychological warfare against China has shifted to using digital penetration and information asymmetry for counterattacks.

"Value Psychological Warfare" Penetrating the Firewall

Taiwan utilizes the communicative power of its free society to penetrate China's information control network. This is no longer simple "defection incentives," but rather "cognitive enlightenment":

• Social Media Penetration: Through platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, and Telegram, Taiwan's civil society and government collaborate to disseminate information on democratic operations, social welfare, and the re-dissemination of blocked information within mainland China ⁶.
• Digital Democratic Wall: Utilizing blockchain technology or decentralized storage to preserve records of protests deleted within mainland China (such as records of the White Paper Movement), Taiwan serves as a "backup library for Chinese-language democracy," which itself is a powerful psychological demonstration.

Counterattacks Against Cognitive Warfare

When China uses AI-generated disinformation to attack Taiwan, Taiwan's psychological warfare units (such as the Psychological Warfare Brigade) have shifted to "defensive psychological warfare" and "exposure-type psychological warfare":

• Exposure Mechanism: Rapidly using AI identification tools to dismantle CCP deepfake videos (such as the fake doctor case in 2025) and creating summary guides to reverse-push them back into the mainland internet space, thereby undermining their official credibility ^{4 10}.
• Utilization of Information Asymmetry: Targeting social contradictions within mainland China (such as youth unemployment and economic decline), disseminating authentic international financial analysis and comparative data to shake mainland citizens' confidence in the narrative of "great power rise."

Paradigm Shift: From "Incentives" to "Identity"

Comparing history and the present, the essence of psychological warfare has undergone a profound displacement:

1. Media Transformation: From physical balloons and loudspeakers to digital algorithms, encrypted communications, and AI.
2. Target Shift: Historical psychological warfare aimed to "attract defection" (individual breakthrough); modern psychological warfare aims to "export identity" and "guard truth" (collective enlightenment).
3. Convergence of Defense and Offense: In the digital age, defending against disinformation is simultaneously an "offensive" of "true information" against the adversary.

📝 Curator's Note: In the past, we exchanged "pineapple cakes" for the enemy soldier's stomach; now we exchange "facts and transparency" for the mainland populace's skepticism toward authoritarian systems. The defense line has retreated from Kinmen's beaches to every packet in the digital space.

Conclusion: Building New Lines of Resilience

Psychological warfare has never disappeared; it has only changed its shell. From the history of the Kinmen Broadcasting Wall, we learn the power of voice; in the challenges of modern AI and information warfare, we must learn how to utilize "truth" as the most powerful psychological warfare weapon. Taiwan, as the democratic lighthouse of the Chinese-speaking world, its very existence is the most powerful psychological warfare against authoritarian systems.

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