Cross-strait tensions have not been mitigated on multiple fronts, including in the areas of diplomacy, military and information, Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said yesterday, though he added that the possibility of conflict in the Taiwan Strait had largely diminished.
Jiang made the remarks as he was questioned by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Lin Te-fu (林德福) and Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) at a legislative floor meeting.
Lin and Ting separately grilled the premier on cyberattacks allegedly perpetrated by the Chinese government’s so-called “cyberarmy,” as well as the aggressiveness they said Beijing demonstrated by repeatedly flying aircraft over the Taiwan Strait mid-line and obstructing Taipei’s bids to ink free-trade agreements with other countries.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Lin asked Jiang if the government has been adequately prepared for the alleged avalanche of attempts by Chinese hackers to attack official Web sites.
The premier said many of the nation’s Web sites — public and private — are subjected to constant attacks originating from China and that sometimes, these hackers seek to conceal their activities by using privately registered sites to try and hack government networks and steal confidential information.
“Civil servants who are not wary of opening e-mails from unspecified sources can provide the opening through which Trojan viruses sent by Chinese hackers can infiltrate government sites,” Jiang said.
“China’s seven military regions are all equipped with cyberarmies. How does the government defend the country against this threat and why are these hacking units so interested in [attacking Taiwan]?” Lin asked.
Smiling at the question, Jiang said that underneath the “apparently tranquil cross-strait relationship” run “turbulent undercurrents.”
“China [still] has strong intentions to realize its political claims over Taiwan. Faced with the possibility of all kinds attacks, military and virtual, the government cannot afford to be lax in terms of national defense,” he added.
Ting then cited a recent public opinion survey on the perceived threat Beijing poses, saying the results showed that increasingly more Taiwanese consider that cross-strait competition and opposition on the military, diplomacy and economic and trade fronts have intensified, “reaching a new high over the past five years.”
By contrast, the amount of “those [polled] who believe that the relationship is mutually beneficial has halved,” over the same period, Ting added.
Jiang said that in contrast to the past, the possibility of bilateral crossfire has been significantly reduced, “but it’s also true that China has not given up its pursuit of enticing away our diplomatic allies.”
Nevertheless, the premier said that the President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration has reached “a tacit agreement” with China that Taiwan will not engage in “irrational competition” on the diplomatic front, referring to the bilateral “diplomatic truce” upheld by Ma.
According to Ting, another pressing issue is Beijing’s obstruction of Taiwan’s attempts to sign free-trade pacts with other countries, such as Malaysia.
Jiang said that the government has not overlooked this matter or that the nation has been overly dependent on China, stressing that Taiwan is also working on joining the negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, not only on striking more cross-strait trade agreements.
Ting then turned to the economic front, asking the premier if the government has proper risk management measures in place as bilateral economic ties deepen, citing what the legislator called three warning signs showing the danger of overdependence on the Chinese market.
“The first is the excessive lending by domestic banks to Chinese firms: Ultrasonic (中國索力) and China Lumena New Materials Corp (中國旭光) have caused the bankruptcy of at least 10 Taiwanese banks,” Ting said, referring to the recent report on the serious bad debts, to be precise, incurred by the two companies to the local banks. “The second is that about NT$6 trillion of the country’s export orders are manufactured in China, which accounts for 40 percent of GDP, and the third is that China has reportedly become Taiwan’s largest debtor, with local banks’ exposure to China at US$92.6 billion as of June, a large jump from US$22.43 billion in 2012.”
However, Jiang said the government has been “vigilant” on all fronts as cross-strait ties warm up, and guaranteed that Chinese investment and other economic activities are all carefully reviewed and monitored by Taiwanese authorities.
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