In this study, we performed linear discriminant and social network analyses of 10,592 pieces of news and 1,066 social media posts related to island patrol training in China. Our objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of communication strategies and identify the correlations between deterrence subjects, social network dynamics, and meme mutation. The results indicate that conflict is the subject that draws the highest level of attention from Taiwanese individuals, who are sensitive about topics such as national identity. Fan pages covering specific subjects are most appealing to different groups of people. The effectiveness of communication strategies is affected by message mutation, and reducing the risk is difficult. Notably, the effectiveness of communication strategies can only be increased by adjusting the strategies to suit audiences.