Taiwan's ruling party is warning that Chinese Communist Party influence operations are reaching deep into local politics, which is bad for Taiwan's democratic independence and a warning sign for any candidate seen as too cozy with Beijing.

• Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party says Beijing uses four channels to infiltrate Taiwanese politics: people-to-people contacts, money, local organizing networks, and information manipulation.
• The party says these tactics often hide inside normal-looking exchange trips and local events, making them hard to spot.
• Officials say the goal is to build local political allies who will go along with Beijing's agenda, starting at the local level and working up to national security and cross-strait policy decisions.
• The party singled out politicians who know China is running influence campaigns but still cooperate with them, saying they deserve the harshest scrutiny from voters.
• The party is urging all parties and voters to scrutinize candidates' ties to Beijing and use their votes to block this kind of interference.

Outlook: Expect this to become a bigger campaign theme as Taiwan's elections approach, with scrutiny of candidates' China ties intensifying.