National security agencies have cooperated with other countries on information exchanges to prevent China from attempting to interfere in next year’s presidential and legislative elections using illegal funding, an anonymous senior government official said yesterday.
China’s cognitive warfare efforts have been on the rise, with 1,400 possible cases reported from January to June last year, 1,600 reported from July to December last year and 1,800 reported from January to last month, the official said.
The number of cases could increase in the latter half of the year, they added.
Photo: Reuters
Illegal cash flows related to election meddling are difficult to detect and seize as they have a supplier and receiver, and flow in different directions, the official said.
The easiest to uncover is the receiver, which could be someone planted in Taiwan to interfere in elections, they said.
China conducts cognitive warfare by creating an atmosphere that war is imminent in the Taiwan Strait to instill fear, the official said.
By criticizing Taiwan and its international allies, and by manipulating the public into believing that foreign delegations only visit Taiwan due to business interests, China tries to convince Taiwanese that the nation’s international partners are not trustworthy, the official said.
Beijing later uses controversial domestic policies to its advantage when election campaigns are in full swing, they added.
China also uses economic means to interfere in Taiwan’s elections, such as when it banned imports of certain Taiwanese agricultural and fishery products, the official said.
Beijing began to lift the bans recently as the elections are approaching to create the impression that it is bestowing favors on Taiwan, they said.
Separately, the government plans to conduct a large-scale security exercise next month to ensure the security of candidates in the presidential election, another senior government official said.
The exercise was scheduled after the National Security Bureau last month gathered representatives from the National Police Agency, the Investigation Bureau and local police stations to conduct a dry run based on possible security breaches, they said.
The aim of the exercise is to perfect early warning systems and ensure maximum security, the official said.
Security for the elections includes preventing organized or one-off attacks, such as the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe or when an explosive device was thrown in the direction of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the official said.
One-off attacks such as those are difficult to guard against, as there would be no criminal records or warning signs to indicate a threat, they said.
What the government can do is build a good security system, the official said.
“Of course, intelligence is important,” they added.
Additional reporting by Lo Tien-pin
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