Alert to cognitive warfare
Some of the people who had bought the book If China Invades (阿共打來怎麼辦) from Eslite Bookstore’s online store have reported receiving mysterious telephone calls from Chinese claiming to be pollsters conducting a survey on “sensitive reading material.”
The callers reportedly spouted “united front” rhetoric throughout the conversation, such as “the book has inappropriate content,” “the Chinese military’s capabilities are strong, so there is no way Taiwan can win the war,” “the US will not help,” “Taiwanese soldiers are afraid to fight,” “the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] is better” and “unification with Taiwan is inevitable.”
The Taiwan Statebuilding Party accused Eslite of being responsible for the alleged leak of its customers’ private data and called on the government to take more concrete steps in countering China’s all-out cognitive warfare.
Eslite should conduct a thorough review, bolster its data and information security, and carry out remedial measures, such as compensating buyers whose data were leaked, as well as submit a report to the Ministry of Digital Affairs.
The ministry should mete out penalties if Eslite is found to have contravened regulations. It would serve as a warning that if other private or public institutions or corporations make the same mistakes, they would be given harsh penalties.
China’s cognitive warfare has gone from the underground to the public sphere, from collective warfare to individual, one-on-one infiltration. Beijing would only step up its attacks, and if the public does not have enough resolve or awareness, it risks being brainwashed and influenced by the Chinese Communist Party’s relentless propaganda. To push back against the dirty tricks of China’s cognitive warfare, the government should educate the public on how to identify, deal with and think about infiltration.
Chi An-hsiu
Taipei
Why is Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) not a “happy camper” these days regarding Taiwan? Taiwanese have not become more “CCP friendly” in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) use of spies and graft by the United Front Work Department, intimidation conducted by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Armed Police/Coast Guard, and endless subversive political warfare measures, including cyber-attacks, economic coercion, and diplomatic isolation. The percentage of Taiwanese that prefer the status quo or prefer moving towards independence continues to rise — 76 percent as of December last year. According to National Chengchi University (NCCU) polling, the Taiwanese
It would be absurd to claim to see a silver lining behind every US President Donald Trump cloud. Those clouds are too many, too dark and too dangerous. All the same, viewed from a domestic political perspective, there is a clear emerging UK upside to Trump’s efforts at crashing the post-Cold War order. It might even get a boost from Thursday’s Washington visit by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In July last year, when Starmer became prime minister, the Labour Party was rigidly on the defensive about Europe. Brexit was seen as an electorally unstable issue for a party whose priority
US President Donald Trump is systematically dismantling the network of multilateral institutions, organizations and agreements that have helped prevent a third world war for more than 70 years. Yet many governments are twisting themselves into knots trying to downplay his actions, insisting that things are not as they seem and that even if they are, confronting the menace in the White House simply is not an option. Disagreement must be carefully disguised to avoid provoking his wrath. For the British political establishment, the convenient excuse is the need to preserve the UK’s “special relationship” with the US. Following their White House
US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has brought renewed scrutiny to the Taiwan-US semiconductor relationship with his claim that Taiwan “stole” the US chip business and threats of 100 percent tariffs on foreign-made processors. For Taiwanese and industry leaders, understanding those developments in their full context is crucial while maintaining a clear vision of Taiwan’s role in the global technology ecosystem. The assertion that Taiwan “stole” the US’ semiconductor industry fundamentally misunderstands the evolution of global technology manufacturing. Over the past four decades, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), has grown through legitimate means
RSS