China’s cognitive warfare tactics against Taiwan include spreading anti-US and anti-Japan messages to wear down Taiwanese’s psychological defenses, an information warfare expert said yesterday.
Shen Pao-yang (沈伯洋), an assistant professor at National Taipei University’s Graduate School of Criminology, made the remark at a forum on online information warfare and national security at the university’s GIS Convention Center.
Most young Taiwanese do not take a pro-China stance, so rather than sending pro-China messages, Beijing has turned its focus on directing Taiwanese’s mistrust at the US, he said.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
Unlike Ukraine, which has quickly identified “fifth column” units embedded in the country, Taiwan might not be able to do so if a war were to break out with China, he said.
Fifth column infiltrators and local collaborators could cause great harm during a war by spreading disinformation, he added.
Taiwanese’s psychological defenses are the most important factor to consider while making assumptions about a war, Shen said, adding that many Taiwanese have said they might surrender in the event of a war with China, which would leave other countries powerless even if they wanted to help Taiwan.
Shen said he used to advocate for exposing such cognitive warfare tactics, but they can only be exposed through judicial investigations, which require legal grounds.
A new mechanism is needed, as the Criminal Investigation Bureau can only pursue tax evasion charges or launch investigations based on the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), which might only have an indirect connection with a case, he said.
Shen said he often hears young people saying they would like to receive information from various sources, including China, Japan and the US, before making a judgement while maintaining a neutral stance.
He said the “neutral stance” points to a lack of awareness of the enemy, adding that exposing China’s tactics would be ineffective if such awareness and psychological defenses are not developed first.
He and his friends have been criticized for promoting an “all-out defense,” yet China is most afraid of Taiwanese building defensive awareness, he said.
Academia Sinica academician and former National Security Council adviser Lee Der-tsai (李德財) told the event that Chinese sources have spread a false report that Taiwanese were celebrating the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, to sow animosity between Taiwan and Japan, and create social discord in Taiwan.
Taiwan must be prepared for such operations and “boost its immunity against misinformation,” he added.
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