In a rhetorical escalation, the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper compared Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to the Nazis, echoing Russia’s justification for its invasion of Ukraine. For instance, during large-scale Chinese army drills around Taiwan in April, party-state propaganda arms depicted Lai as a literal ‘parasite’. However, referencing the Nazis is the ultimate political slur, a global fallacy that dehumanises opponents and silences debate. Beijing’s immediate aim is likely more tactical: to sow division, weaken the DPP and erode Taiwan’s democratic institutions. Over the years, Beijing has reframed the plight of Jewish refugees in Shanghai as a story of Chinese exceptionalist national benevolence.