The political maneuvering behind the Xiaohongshu ban

Editor's note: Kong Qingjiang, a special commentator for CGTN, is the dean of the Academy for Foreign-related Rule of Law at China University of Political Science and Law. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Xiaohongshu (also known as RedNote internationally) is a leading lifestyle interest community in China and beyond. It has built a unique ecosystem integrating content creation, social interaction, and e-commerce.

In early 2025, it topped the App Store download charts in more than 40 countries and regions and ranked among the top three in nearly 100 countries and regions, driven by a surge of international users (especially from the U.S.). In the China's Taiwan region alone, Xiaohongshu has attracted 3 million registered users, most of whom are young people. Given the island's total population of around 23 million, the number of Xiaohongshu users is truly astonishing.

Indeed, Xiaohongshu has become an important channel for people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, especially young people, to understand each other. There have even been reported cases where descendants of Kuomintang soldiers successfully found their relatives through the platform.

To surprise millions of users, the Taiwan authorities announced on December 4 that they would implement measures to suspend access to Xiaohongshu effective immediately, with a tentative implementation period of one year. This high-profile event was unusual in a society that champions freedom of speech. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities claimed that this measure was taken in accordance with the provisions on "emergency incidents for the prevention and control of fraud crimes" in Article 42 of the "Regulations on the Prevention and Control of the Harm Caused by Fraud Crimes." The ban is also under the pretext that it "failed to pass information security screening."

The rationale for the ban put forward by the Lai Ching-te authorities collapses in the face of data and facts. According to statistics, daily financial losses from fraud in Taiwan amount to as much as NT$400 million, 70 percent of which are attributed to Facebook, a U.S.-based social media platform. The single-day loss alone far exceeds the total amount of fraud-related losses involving Xiaohongshu over two years.

That is to say, the leading platform where people encounter fraud in the Taiwan region is Meta (formerly known as Facebook), not Xiaohongshu. What is even more ironic is that Kuo Cheng-liang, a former legislator, revealed that he had been a victim of identity theft fraud on Meta on multiple occasions. He filed more than 60 reports about such incidents, but to no avail.

While the Lai Ching-te authorities have adopted a lenient stance toward the data-collection practices of overseas platforms such as Meta and YouTube, they singled out Xiaohongshu for a so-called anti-fraud raid. Against the backdrop, one has to delve into the political motives behind the DPP's ban on Xiaohongshu.

Empirical evidence has shown that the Taiwan separatist forces oppose anything related to the Chinese mainland without exception. The Lai Ching-te authorities' crackdown on Xiaohongshu offers a new example.

Indeed, Xiaohongshu's influence among young people in Taiwan is rapidly expanding, and young people are a key voting bloc in elections. The DPP is worried that this influence will affect its electoral prospects. By banning Xiaohongshu, the DPP authorities attempted to prevent young people from awakening from the information cocoon they have created for them, to continue manipulating ignorant followers of the DDP.

A large amount of real-life sharing content from the Chinese mainland on Xiaohongshu will expose the lies of the "mainland threat theory" and "mainland backwardness theory" that the DDP has long propagated. Taiwan's young people, by understanding the mainland's real development through the platform, may shake the results of the "desinicization" education imposed on them. In this context, the DDP authorities, which do not want the Taiwan people to "get closer and form closer ties" with the mainland, are eager to sever communication and interaction channels between young people across the Straits.

What the DPP fears is not fraud, but that young people will see the real life and development of the mainland through Xiaohongshu and break down the information wall it has painstakingly built.

No wonder many people in the province believe that the Xiaohongshu ban is "anti-China in the guise of anti-fraud." Some netizens on the island commented on related reports in local media, calling it a "shameless move" and reflecting public dissatisfaction with the DPP's actions.

The DPP's deliberate targeting of Xiaohongshu will further fuel Cross-Straits tensions and consolidate its stance on "Taiwan independence" separatism. But such an attempt is doomed to fail in the face of the resolve of the Chinese people, including the Taiwan people, and the firm political determination of the Chinese government for national reunification.

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