China might implement pressure campaigns in the run-up to Taiwan’s presidential election next month, including introducing investment incentives and conducting military exercises around the country, to try and sway voters to cast their ballot in a more pro-Beijing direction, an expert said on Thursday.

In contrast to how official communications with Taiwan were severed after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) won her first-term victory in 2016, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has continued full steam ahead in its efforts to win the hearts of Taiwanese business people, said Kung Shan-son (龔祥生), a researcher at the Taiwan government-funded think tank Institute for National Defense and Security Research.