During its 7am news show on April 20, Chinese Television System (CTS) — part of Taiwan Broadcasting System (TBS) — ran news tickers that said: “New Taipei City hit by Chinese People’s Liberation Army missiles,” “War on the brink of erupting” and “Vessel explodes in Taipei Harbor; facilities and ships destroyed.” More false tickers followed on that day, reading: “Oil field discovered in the Bashi Channel,” and “Fist-sized hailstones fall on Taipei at midnight, downtown traffic a mess.”
Four days later, the CTS midday news program misidentified Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) as “president.” Blunders continued on Tuesday, when President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was called “Tsai EE” in a caption.
CTS said that the April 20 news tickers were created by the New Taipei City Fire Department for disaster drill purposes and were aired by accident, while the others were the result of staff negligence and oversight. CTS reprimanded several news producers and editors for the blunders, while TBS chairwoman Tchen Yu-chiou (陳郁秀) and CTS acting general manager Chen Ya-ling (陳雅琳) tendered their resignations.
There was speculation over the outlandish mistakes. Some theories were benign, chalking up the mistakes to internal strife and power struggles at CTS, which led to distractions and negligence. Others were more serious accusations. With the record local surge in COVID-19 cases, along with November’s local elections approaching, some supporters of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said that the “mistakes” were part of a scheme devised by the Democratic Progressive Party and CTS to create an “illusion of red infiltration” to help DPP candidates. Another hypothesis was that the incident revealed the workings of “fifth column units” at CTS, referring to communist networks that conduct clandestine activities to infiltrate or destabilize a society through sabotage and disinformation. The “blunders” were said to be the malicious conduct of pro-China supporters, heralding the possibility of information warfare.
That last theory should give Taiwan further cause to remain vigilant and wary of China’s looming threat. As China intensifies its aggression toward Taiwan, a basic and effective approach would be to undermine Taiwan’s state telecommunications infrastructure. From propaganda to promotional videos to false information on social media, China has been relentless in its use of tactics to cause strife or turmoil within Taiwan.
“Fifth column units” inside Taiwan pose a plausible and significant risk. As the government focuses on policies to deter “new” threats such as cyberattacks, it should consider that attacks and sabotage could easily come from one’s own backyard. Although the incidents at CTS could be dismissed as human error, they might be the deliberate workings of pro-China supporters with the intention of wreaking havoc. Without appropriate penalties, these contraventions could turn into loopholes and embolden further acts of sabotage to national security.
While it is up to the National Communications Commission and the government to keep the media in line, it is the public’s responsibility to remain critical of the news and information they receive. The public needs to take any suspicious activities or information with a grain of salt and verify sources.
For Taiwan to keep Chinese infiltration at bay, an “all-out defense” consensus is required from the government and the public. To avoid suffering the boiling frog syndrome, Taiwan cannot afford to let its guard down by assuming a blunder when the reality might be sabotage.
In a meeting with Haitian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Victor Harvel Jean-Baptiste on Tuesday, President William Lai (賴清德) vowed to continue providing aid to Haiti. Taiwan supports Haiti with development in areas such as agriculture, healthcare and education through initiatives run by the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF). The nation it has established itself as a responsible, peaceful and innovative actor committed to global cooperation, Jean-Baptiste said. Testimonies such as this give Taiwan a voice in the global community, where it often goes unheard. Taiwan’s reception in Haiti also contrasts with how China has been perceived in countries in the region
The world has become less predictable, less rules-based, and more shaped by the impulses of strongmen and short-term dealmaking. Nowhere is this more consequential than in East Asia, where the fate of democratic Taiwan hinges on how global powers manage — or mismanage — tensions with an increasingly assertive China. The return of Donald Trump to the White House has deepened the global uncertainty, with his erratic, highly personalized foreign-policy approach unsettling allies and adversaries alike. Trump appears to treat foreign policy like a reality show. Yet, paradoxically, the global unpredictability may offer Taiwan unexpected deterrence. For China, the risk of provoking the
On April 13, I stood in Nanan (南安), a Bunun village in southern Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪), absorbing lessons from elders who spoke of the forest not as backdrop, but as living presence — relational, sacred and full of spirit. I was there with fellow international students from National Dong Hwa University (NDHU) participating in a field trip that would become one of the most powerful educational experiences of my life. Ten days later, a news report in the Taipei Times shattered the spell: “Formosan black bear shot and euthanized in Hualien” (April 23, page 2). A tagged bear, previously released
Young supporters of former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) were detained for posting the names and photographs of judges and prosecutors believed to be overseeing the Core Pacific City redevelopment corruption case. The supporters should be held responsible for their actions. As for Ko’s successor, TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), he should reflect on whether his own comments are provocative and whether his statements might be misunderstood. Huang needs to apologize to the public and the judiciary. In the article, “Why does sorry seem to be the hardest word?” the late political commentator Nan Fang Shuo (南方朔) wrote