China has been creating fake social media accounts to interfere with the Nov. 24 elections as practice for manipulating the 2020 elections to elect candidates favorable toward Beijing, a National Security Bureau source said on Saturday.
China’s fake news is largely centered on issues related to Taiwan’s defense, cross-strait relations and the policies of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration, and generally gets published first by Chinese outlets such as the Global Times, Straits Today (今日海峽) and Taihai Net (台海網), the source said.
The content is then edited by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) cyberwarfare division or the 50 Cent Army — Internet users paid to support Beijing’s propaganda online — and reposted to PTT — Taiwan’s largest online bulletin board system — the Line messaging app, YouTube and other social media platforms, the source said.
Photo: Screen grab from the Internet
There are a growing number of Chinese accounts aimed at Taiwan on YouTube, such as Jianghu Baixiaosheng (江湖百曉生) and Touhao Zhanjiang (頭號戰將), which both have nearly 30,000 Taiwanese followers, the source said.
These accounts have each published nearly 1,000 videos in the six months they have been active, and the content is largely commentary critical of Tsai and US President Donald Trump sourced from the Global Times, the source added.
Some of the videos on Jianghu Baixiaosheng, including one advocating a PLA takeover of Taiwan, have been shared on Facebook by Taiwanese users, the source said.
China’s information warfare efforts are an evolution of a PLA unit that was established at the end of 2015 to conduct intelligence gathering, attacks on servers and networks, cognitive hacking and psychological warfare, the source said, adding that the branch today has an estimated 300,000 personnel.
Taiwan has long been a testing ground for Chinese cyberattacks, and last year the bureau intercepted an average of 100,000 online attacks from China per month, the source said.
China’s cyberwarfare specialists are familiar with social issues in Taiwan and inject divisive commentary into discussions on controversial topics in an attempt to create social strife, the source said, citing the fake story about Chinese consulate officials helping Chinese passengers stranded at Osaka’s Kansai International Airport following Typhoon Jebi.
Bureau Director-General Peng Sheng-chu (彭勝竹) on Thursday told a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee that Beijing and the PLA were behind a propaganda campaign to interfere with the nation’s democratic elections by creating disinformation and fake news targeting Taiwanese media outlets, radio and television programs and Web sites, Peng said.
Premier William Lai (賴清德) on Friday told an inter-ministerial meeting at the Executive Yuan that this month’s elections were being undermined because of China’s spread of disinformation, financial support of certain candidates and sponsoring of television and radio programs, as well as cyberattacks.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
SHOT IN THE ARM: The new system can be integrated with Avenger and Stinger missiles to bolster regional air defense capabilities, a defense ministry report said Domestically developed Land Sword II (陸射劍二) missiles were successfully launched and hit target drones during a live-fire exercise at the Jiupeng Military Base in Pingtung County yesterday. The missiles, developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), were originally scheduled to launch on Tuesday last week, after the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday long weekend, but were postponed to yesterday due to weather conditions. Local residents and military enthusiasts gathered outside the base to watch the missile tests, with the first one launching at 9:10am. The Land Sword II system, which is derived from the Sky Sword II (天劍二) series, was turned