Last week, a supposed travel itinerary of National Security Bureau Director-General Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) in Thailand was posted online alongside a photograph of him, allegedly taken at Thai customs, as well as screenshots of a customs clearance spreadsheet and a hotel bill. The incident sparked rumors and attracted criticism, with some finding it unacceptable that the whereabouts of the head of national security were exposed, while others speculated that it might be a result of bureau infighting.
However, the infighting idea appears the least feasible. As images of Chen were taken by cameras of Thai customs agencies, there is no way the bureau could have obtained them.
Furthermore, as only a handful of personnel would have information regarding the hotel, it would have been easy to find out who within the bureau had leaked images of the bill.
The most likely possibility is that a Thai national security agency official leaked the information to China, which spread the information on Twitter and Facebook.
The goal was to show that Chinese intelligence agencies had Chen “on their radar,” that there is nowhere Taiwanese can hide from Beijing’s omnipresent tentacles and that it is a matter of time before “independence diehards” are arrested and put away by Chinese authorities.
This would allow China to question the bureau’s competency while showing off its intelligence-gathering prowess, thereby instilling fear in Taiwanese — classic cognitive warfare.
Furthermore, the incident was likely also meant to discourage Thailand’s national security agencies from having exchanges with Taiwan, and to set an example for other countries to suspend security cooperation with Taipei.
Another possibility is that the information systems of Thai customs agencies and the hotel were hacked by Chinese operatives. As Thailand and China are on cordial terms, Bangkok’s use of Chinese facial recognition technology and databases, such as those made by Hikvision Digital Technology and Huawei Technologies, would have allowed China to infiltrate the systems.
This should be a red flag and fuel national security concerns for countries using Chinese technology and telecommunications equipment, and underscore that the West has banned Chinese electronics for good reasons.
The social media accounts that first posted the images portrayed Chen as being on a private trip to Thailand with a woman at the public’s expense, an obvious attempt to spark gossip.
The incident adds insult to injury for Chen, who had just disentangled himself from former Hsinchu mayor Lin Chih-chien’s (林智堅) thesis scandal. Mass negative coverage of Chen’s trip by some media firms in Taiwan played to China’s nasty script.
Separately, United Microelectronics Corp founder and former chairman Robert Tsao (曹興誠) at a news conference a few weeks ago refused to answer a question from a CTiTV reporter and launched into a diatribe against the channel, calling it a “bandit network” and urging people not to watch it.
The channel filed a lawsuit against Tsao, accusing him of harming its reputation.
The best way for a media firm to safeguard its reputation is to rely on its actions instead of the law. If CTiTV wants to remove its “bandit” label, perhaps it should refrain from reporting news from a China-friendly perspective under the banner of press freedom.
Another way to shed the image that it is a tool of Beijing’s cognitive warfare would be for it to also stop fawning on Beijing while directing its fire at Taiwan.
Fan Shih-ping is a professor in National Taiwan University’s Graduate Institute of Political Science.
Translated by Rita Wang
In a summer of intense political maneuvering, Taiwanese, whose democratic vibrancy is a constant rebuke to Beijing’s authoritarianism, delivered a powerful verdict not on China, but on their own political leaders. Two high-profile recall campaigns, driven by the ruling party against its opposition, collapsed in failure. It was a clear signal that after months of bitter confrontation, the Taiwanese public is demanding a shift from perpetual campaign mode to the hard work of governing. For Washington and other world capitals, this is more than a distant political drama. The stability of Taiwan is vital, as it serves as a key player
Yesterday’s recall and referendum votes garnered mixed results for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). All seven of the KMT lawmakers up for a recall survived the vote, and by a convincing margin of, on average, 35 percent agreeing versus 65 percent disagreeing. However, the referendum sponsored by the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on restarting the operation of the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County failed. Despite three times more “yes” votes than “no,” voter turnout fell short of the threshold. The nation needs energy stability, especially with the complex international security situation and significant challenges regarding
Much like the first round on July 26, Saturday’s second wave of recall elections — this time targeting seven Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers — also failed. With all 31 KMT legislators who faced recall this summer secure in their posts, the mass recall campaign has come to an end. The outcome was unsurprising. Last month’s across-the-board defeats had already dealt a heavy blow to the morale of recall advocates and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), while bolstering the confidence of the KMT and its ally the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). It seemed a foregone conclusion that recalls would falter, as
The fallout from the mass recalls and the referendum on restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant continues to monopolize the news. The general consensus is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has been bloodied and found wanting, and is in need of reflection and a course correction if it is to avoid electoral defeat. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has not emerged unscathed, either, but has the opportunity of making a relatively clean break. That depends on who the party on Oct. 18 picks to replace outgoing KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫). What is certain is that, with the dust settling
RSS