In September, P.T.T. drew scrutiny for carrying a widely shared post that claimed that Taiwanese travelers stranded in Japan were being rescued by buses sent by China’s consulate — but only on the condition that they declared themselves Chinese. The post, which was carried by Chinese media, led to criticism from the Taiwanese public that their government had failed them.

Su Chii-Cherng, Taiwan’s top diplomat in Osaka, Japan, killed himself, leaving a note saying that the “news” had been troubling him. Witnesses from the Japanese airport later refuted the news, while P.T.T. users traced the original post to an IP address in Beijing.