TAIPEI—Taiwan is toughening laws, fostering memes and partnering with the likes of Facebook to fight back against China’s attempts to influence its coming election.

The island democracy has been subjected to political pressure from Beijing for decades. Its Jan. 11 election to pick a president and members of the legislature has been widely regarded as a prime target for Chinese online interference and disinformation—and as a potential test bed for a similar campaign by Beijing aimed at the U.S. presidential election later...