The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said that it is combating Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cognitive warfare efforts against Taiwan.
The ministry said it has submitted guidelines to the Legislative Yuan to define cognitive warfare efforts by foreign powers and to outline the military’s actions to combat it.
China’s use of social media and other platforms to spread disinformation and cause social unrest in Taiwan has been increasing, it said.
Photo: EPA-EFE / the Ministry of National Defense
The CCP engages in cognitive warfare with Taiwan through the use of propaganda, fake social media accounts, content farms and Taiwanese collaborators, it said.
The military traces misinformation shared through social media in Taiwan, and posts corrected information on its own social media accounts and Web sites, the ministry said, adding that it also posts the corrected information in replies to public posts where possible.
Meanwhile, a defense researcher on Saturday said that the military must continue to improve its asymmetric combat and electronic warfare capabilities to meet the threat of a Chinese invasion attempt.
Institute for National Defense and Security Research senior analyst Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) was responding to an investigative report titled “T-Day: The Battle for Taiwan,” published by Reuters on Friday.
The possible scenarios regarding a Chinese attack discussed in the report have all been previously discussed between the ministry and US officials at the Pentagon, he said.
The article described six scenarios, including a Chinese blockade of Lienchiang County, an invasion of Kinmen County, a customs quarantine, a full blockade, an air and missile campaign, and an all-out invasion of Taiwan.
In each of the scenarios, China’s goal is to force Taipei into unification negotiations, which Taipei refuses in every scenario, instead appealing to the US, Japan and Australia for assistance.
“Reuters has said that Taiwan’s reserve forces are too weak, and this is an area the military is working to strengthen,” he said.
Su cited the report as saying that Taiwan would counter a Chinese attack with missiles, but that the number of missiles it has is limited.
“However, if Taiwan is able to secure Harpoon anti-ship missiles from the US, that would change the situation,” he said.
Citing a statement by Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) in a letter to the Wall Street Journal that was published on Thursday, Su said that “Taiwan is no match for China in resources, manpower or military technologies.”
However, Taiwan has the will and determination to defend itself, so it must speed up investment in its asymmetric warfare capabilities to tip the scales in its favor in the event of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, he said.
“Taiwan should also play to its strengths in information technology, and invest more in its electronic warfare capabilities,” he said. “This is an area that China has been investing in recently, so Taiwan needs to keep pace.”
Su said that an estimated 18 percent of Chinese military planes that have flown near Taiwan’s waters in the past year were electronic warfare aircraft.
This showed that China was seeking to emulate tactics used by the US military, such as the use of its Suter software that allows it to monitor and control enemy air-defense systems, he said.
To counter this, Taiwan must improve the encryption of its wireless communications and develop heterogeneous communications systems, he said.
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
SUPPORT: Arms sales to NATO Plus countries such as Japan, South Korea and Israel only have to be approved by the US Congress if they exceed US$25m The US should amend a law to add Taiwan to the list of “NATO Plus” allies and streamline future arms sales, a US commission said on Tuesday in its annual report to the US Congress. The recommendation was made in the annual report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), which contained chapters on US-China economic and trade ties, security relations, and Taiwan and Hong Kong. In the chapter on Taiwan, the commission urged the US Congress to “amend the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 to include Taiwan on the list of ‘NATO Plus’ recipients,” referring to
MEET AND GREET: The White House, which called the interaction ‘just a handshake,’ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Biden planned to visit Taiwan’s envoy to the APEC summit, Lin Hsin-i (林信義), on Friday invited US President Joe Biden to visit Taiwan. During the APEC Leaders’ Informal Dialogue, Lin, who represented President William Lai (賴清德) at the summit, spoke with Biden and expressed gratitude to the outgoing US president for his contribution to improving bilateral ties between Taipei and Washington over the past four years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Lin and Biden exchanged views during the conversation, with Lin extending an invitation to Biden to visit Taiwan, it said. Biden is to step down in January next year, when US president-elect Donald Trump is
RSS