"The government has taken a tough stance! The national army defends Taiwan's sovereignty, preventing anyone from invading our waters and casually cutting our undersea cables," reads the traditional Chinese caption of an image shared on Facebook on March 9, 2025.
The image, which shows Lai delivering a speech, is superimposed with text that reads, "Chinese ships frequently cut Taiwan's undersea cables. Lai Ching-te's government now orders the national army to shoot at the area where Chinese ships linger".
Image
Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post, captured on March 20, 2025
The same image also circulated in posts on X, Threads and YouTube.
The claim spread after Taiwan's coast guard detained the Togolese-registered ship Hongtai and its Chinese captain for severing an undersea telecoms cable serving the Penghu island group in the sensitive Taiwan Strait (archived link).
The coast guard said the Hongtai was among 52 "suspicious" Chinese-owned ships flying flags of convenience from Mongolia, Cameroon, Tanzania, Togo and Sierra Leone highlighted for close monitoring. Vessels suspected of loitering or anchoring near subsea cables will be warned by radio to leave the area, and boarding inspections will be conducted when needed.
Taipei fears Beijing -- which claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control -- could sever its communication links as part of an attempt to seize or blockade the island (archived link).
While Taiwan's defence ministry issued notice of a planned drill to the southeast of the Penghu island group on March 24, and warned fisherman to avoid the area for their own safety, the ministry told the state-run Central News Agency (CNA) that "no live-free shooting will be carried out in the sea and air exercise area" (archived here and here).
A keyword search on the website of the Taiwan president's office also found no order to open fire in the area where the Chinese ships had reportedly lingered (archived link).
A reverse image search on Google found the photo of Lai used in the false posts predates the detention of the Hongtai, and has circulated in CNA reports since March 2023 (archived link).
CNA told AFP in a March 20 email that the image is one of the agency's archived photos (archived link).
Taken on March 15, 2023, its caption says it shows Lai after he completed his registration for the presidential primary election.
Image
Screenshot of the image used in the false post (left) and the CNA photo taken in March 2023 (right)
AFP has fact-checked other misinformation about Taiwan here.