China’s frequent missions near Taiwan during the past few months are part of Chinese officials’ overall strategy of influencing the nation’s public opinion, according to analysts in Taiwan.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces passed near Taiwan on deep-ocean training exercises 25 times from August to December last year, the Ministry of National Defense said in its year-end report last month.
By contrast, the PLA annually conducted four such training missions during the preceding few years. When Taiwan, Japan and South Korea began reporting on the missions, Chinese media also began to cover them, making comments about China’s right to carry them out.
Following exercises on Nov. 22 and 23, the PLA’s official account on messaging service Weibo showed Chinese Xian H-6K bombers flying within view of a mountain range that China’s Sina military news service claimed to be Taiwan’s Yushan (玉山).
After the PLA Air Force flew over Japan’s Miyako Strait and over the Bashi Channel on Dec. 12, more photos appeared on the PLA’s Weibo channel alongside a report saying that similar routine training exercises are to be the norm in the future. The report also differed from past PLA reports in that it specifically mentioned “encircling the island.”
The report asked readers: “Guess what island we encircled?” The accompanying pictures showed bombers joined by a formation of Shenyang J-11 fighters.
The PLA announced on Dec. 18 that bombers, fighters and reconnaissance aircraft would be passing over the Tsushima Strait toward international waters off the coast of eastern Japan to test their combat capability over long distances.
Lin Ying-yu (林穎佑), assistant professor at National Chung Cheng University’s Institute of Strategic and International Affairs, on Wednesday said the PLA is attempting to cause social disturbances in Taiwan by reporting on its activities.
Reports that mix true and falsified information will appear with increasing frequency, Lin said.
Communists have been using propaganda since the Chinese Civil War, Lin said, adding that the advent of the digital age has resulted in a “digital cold war.”
They are especially adept at using propaganda since they maintain full control over the media and over Internet use in China, he said.
China’s propaganda campaign has an internal front, which has been focusing on the corruption crackdown to show the Chinese public how much power the PLA holds, and an external front, which can be seen in the recent Weibo posts about military exercises and is aimed at Taiwan, Lin said.
With the frequent and close interactions today between people on both sides of the Strait, it is particularly easy for China’s “Internet army” (五毛黨) to spread false information on social media platforms and cause panic among Taiwanese netizens, Lin said.
The Chinese Communist Party first made mention of its intention to focus more on ideological warfare in 2014, at the time saying: “Future battles will not be won in the air; rather, military strategists will have to vie for control over the battlefields of public discourse and control of unseen public opinion.”
Whether the PLA’s actions represent routine exercises or preparation for war, the ministry is always ready for action, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Major General Chen Chung-chi (陳中吉) said.
“We neither fear war, nor ask for war,” Chen said. “We have the confidence and the ability to protect the safety of the nation’s territory.”
“There is no need to feel restless over a few pictures,” he added.
EIGHT KILLED: Three of the four juvenile victims were children of the man suspected of setting the fire at the tire repair shop after a family dispute Four of the eight people killed in a fire in Hsinchu City on Wednesday night were children and the other four were adults who died while trying to rescue the children from the second floor of the burning building, the city’s Fire Bureau said yesterday. Fire Bureau First Corps commander Chang Chih-chih (張智智) told a news conference that the fire at Zheng Yi Tire Repair Shop on Dongda Road might have been intentionally set by the owner’s son, Chen Yen-hsiang (陳彥翔), who earlier had an argument with other family members. Chen allegedly bought gasoline and lit a fire near four motorcycles inside
FIFA World Cup host Qatar has corrected an online application form that listed Taiwan as part of China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. Following the ministry’s protest on Wednesday, “Taiwan” replaced “Taiwan, Province of China” on a dropdown menu on the Web site to apply for a Hayya Card, an identification card all World Cup spectators are required to obtain, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said. “We express our appreciation to the event organizers for their swift response in making the correction and safeguarding the rights of our nation’s fans,” she added. The card also serves as an entry visa for
ALARM GROWS: US officials are concerned that China’s claim that the Taiwan Strait is an internal waterway is a deliberate effort to muddy the legal status of Taiwan US President Joe Biden’s administration has decided to reject a vague new assertion by China that the Taiwan Strait is not “international waters” and is increasingly concerned the stance could result in more frequent challenges at sea for Taiwan, people familiar with the matter said. Chinese officials have made such remarks repeatedly in meetings with US counterparts over the past few months. In the past, while China regularly protested US military moves in the Taiwan Strait, the legal status of the waters was not a regular talking point in meetings with US officials. The timing of the assertion is causing alarm within the
NEW TRAVEL REGIME: The CECC advised people to stay put in between quarantine and self-disease prevention, but said that they could apply for a location change Inbound travelers who need to change locations for the four-day self-disease prevention period following their three-day quarantine must apply with their local government, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. The “one person per household” principle would remain in place under the new “3+4” quarantine policy, which was implemented yesterday, the center said. More than 4,500 incoming travelers were expected yesterday, including more than 980 people who entered Taiwan in the early morning, said Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), the CECC’s acting spokesman and medical response division deputy head. Lo said many people had asked the CECC whether
RSS