China may be monitoring e-mails, cellphone calls and text messages to and from senior Taiwanese military officers, a new study from the Project 2049 Institute in Washington said.
The information gathered from the monitoring most likely goes to the Chinese Communist Party’s principal arm for political warfare, the study written by former Pentagon official Mark Stokes said.
He said it might facilitate assessment of individuals “with access and influence” for political purposes.
“These data collections are useful for evaluating and selecting officers for clandestine political warfare campaigns, among other functions,” Stokes said.
The study sheds new light on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) General Staff Department (GSD) Third Department Second Bureau and its broad communications intelligence mission.
“The GSD Third Department, often referred to as 3PLA, is roughly analogous to the US National Security Agency,” Stokes said.
It has direct authority over 12 operational bureaus, three research institutes and a computing center. Eight of the 12 operational bureau headquarters are clustered in Beijing, two are based in Shanghai, one in Qingdao and one in Wuhan.
“The bureau allegedly maintains a data base on military officers from Taiwan, and presumably other foreign military personnel with a rank of colonel and above,” the study said.
“Profiles, updated on a semi-monthly basis, include basic data such as date and place of birth, education, personal habits, family and current location,” it said.
Stokes said that last year, the US indicted five PLA officers on charges of cyberespionage against US firms.
The five were assigned to the same group that is monitoring Taiwan military officers and that group appears to have “responsibilities well beyond cyberespionage.”
The Second Bureau oversees a work station in the vicinity of a major submarine cable landing station on Chongming Island and probably a unit near the Nanhui cable landing station.
“Second Bureau elements with direct access to fiber optic cable landing stations could buffer communications traffic entering and leaving China,” Stokes wrote.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
ALL QUIET: The Philippine foreign secretary told senators she would not respond to questions about whether Lin Chia-lung was in the country The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that a business delegation is visiting the Philippines, but declined to say whether Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is part of the group, as Philippine lawmakers raised questions over Lin’s reported visit. The group is being led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Huang Chao-chin (黃昭欽), Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) chairman Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) and US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) vice president Lotta Danielsson, the ministry said in a statement. However, sources speaking on condition of anonymity said that Lin is leading the delegation of 70 people. Filinvest New Clark City Innovation Park
DEFENSIVE EDGE: The liaison officer would work with Taiwan on drones and military applications for other civilian-developed technologies, a source said A Pentagon unit tasked with facilitating the US military’s adoption of new technology is soon to deploy officials to dozens of friendly nations, including Taiwan, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is to send a representative to collaborate with Taiwan on drones and military applications from the semiconductor industry by the end of the year, the British daily reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “Drones will certainly be a focus, but they will also be looking at connecting to the broader civilian and dual-use ecosystem, including the tech sector,” one source was
RSS