China Expands Influence Operations Across Indo-Pacific, Targets Elections: Report

China is continuing to expand its influence operations across the Indo-Pacific, with recent election-related disinformation campaigns in Japan adding to a growing list of cases reported across the region, according to a report published in The Diplomat.

The report, authored by Osawa Jun, Senior Fellow at Tokyo’s Nakasone Peace Institute, highlighted activity on social media platform X during Japan’s House of Representatives election earlier this year. Posts circulating during the campaign promoted narratives such as “Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae is a militarist” and claims that Japan would be unable to prevail in a potential Taiwan contingency.

According to the report, some of the Japanese-language posts contained traces of simplified Chinese, while several meme images resembled material previously used by Chinese government-affiliated media. The narratives also appeared to closely match talking points associated with Beijing.

The report said Chinese influence operations have increasingly targeted elections across the Indo-Pacific since the 2020s. Taiwan has been among the most prominent targets, with disinformation campaigns reported during local elections in 2018 and 2022. During Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election, online narratives also targeted members of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) who were seeking to distance themselves from Beijing.

The concerns extend beyond East Asia. Chinese-linked influence operations have also been reported in Australia, while security authorities in the Philippines have alleged that China-supported groups were involved in influence activities during the country's 2025 midterm and local elections. The issue prompted Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to order a detailed investigation.

The Diplomat report warned that similar efforts could intensify ahead of the Philippines' 2028 presidential election, amid concerns that external influence could be used to promote candidates viewed as favourable to Beijing.

China has also been accused of conducting influence activities in the South Pacific. In the Solomon Islands, for example, disinformation has circulated alleging that the United States was interfering in the country's 2024 elections. Claims that Washington intended to assassinate the country's pro-China prime minister have also reportedly been circulated repeatedly since 2023.

The issue has also featured prominently in political debate in the United States. On July 16, US President Donald Trump said newly released intelligence documents showed that China had targeted the 2020 US presidential election and obtained large amounts of voter information.

Trump alleged that Chinese actors had acquired data relating to around 220 million US voters, including names, addresses, phone numbers and political affiliations. He described the alleged compromise as a major threat to election security and claimed that US intelligence agencies had been aware of the issue but had downplayed its significance.

According to the report, these developments point to a broader pattern in which influence operations are increasingly being used alongside conventional diplomatic and strategic tools. The growing use of social media, manipulated content and politically sensitive narratives has made it more difficult for governments and voters to distinguish between genuine political debate and coordinated foreign influence.

The spread of such campaigns across Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Australia and Pacific island nations has therefore emerged as a wider regional security concern, particularly as Indo-Pacific countries prepare for a series of important elections in the coming years.

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