China is continuing its efforts to peel off Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in an all-out attempt to influence next year’s elections and might convince more countries to switch sides before the end of this year, the National Security Council (NSC) said in report released on Wednesday.
The report, which was discussed at a meeting on Monday of Taiwan’s top national security and foreign affairs officials, said that China’s threats and acts of suppression have been coming hard and fast.
For example, China has been conducting military exercises that target Taiwan, has banned individual visits to Taiwan by its nationals, and has convinced the Solomon Islands and Kiribati to switch recognition from Taipei to Beijing, the report said.
Screengrab from the Internet
Amid the heightened threats, Taiwan might lose up to two more allies before the end of the year and could see increased pressure on friendly countries, including the US, Japan and members of the EU, it said.
“China would resort to any means to interfere in Taiwan’s 2020 elections and to further suppress Taiwan in the international community,” said the report, which was an analysis of the heightened threat from China and its attempts to influence the elections.
China also sees economic issues as one of the best ways to manipulate Taiwan’s elections and political direction, it said.
“At a sensitive time when elections are approaching, it [China] has taken heavy actions to reduce cross-strait economic and trade interactions,” the report said, adding that Beijing is hoping to strangle Taiwan’s economy so that it could control “economic voters.”
It forecast that Beijing would go even further by cutting the number of cross-strait flights; reducing the number of Chinese tourists, students and investors allowed to travel to Taiwan; revoking cross-strait currency clearance; tightening financial exchanges between the two sides; and forcing Taiwanese businesspeople in China to declare their political affiliation.
Beijing is likely to threaten to terminate the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), which was signed in 2010 to reduce tariffs and commercial barriers between Taiwan and China, the report said.
On the political front, Beijing might step up its efforts through actions such as supporting a third political force to dilute support for the pro-Taiwanese independence pan-green camp and orchestrating incidents that would jeopardize social order in Taiwan, it said.
Meanwhile, China would continue to conduct military exercises that simulate attacks on Taiwan and sail its warships close to the nation, it added.
The council recommended that the government take measures to defend Taiwan’s sovereignty and democracy, diversify foreign relations, bolster national defense and stem the circulation of misinformation to prevent infiltration by China.
At the meeting, NSC Secretary-General David Lee (李大維), citing President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), said that the government is strongly opposed to the “one country, two systems” formula proposed by Beijing and refuses to accept any “transitional arrangement” that would force unification.
In reference to the report noting that Beijing could support a third political force to dilute support for the Democratic Progressive Party, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who last month founded the Taiwan People’s Party, yesterday said that the report “might just as well straightforwardly brand itself as a campaigning report.”
China would not dare meddle in Taiwan’s elections, because doing so has backfired every time since the nation’s first direct presidential election in 1996, Ko said.
Presidential Office spokesman Ting Yun-kung (丁允恭) said that the report was an analysis of the situation and is unrelated to domestic politics.
Additional reporting by Shen Pei-yao and Chen Yu-fu
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