Sat, Apr 22, 2023 page1

• US bill to boost Taiwan cyberdefense

  JOINT EXERCISES: A draft backed by four lawmakers from the House and Senate would authorize the Pentagon to work more closely with Taiwanese defense forces

  • Staff Writer, with CNA
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  Four US lawmakers on Thursday introduced legislation that would enable the Pentagon to cooperate with Taiwan in fortifying its cybersecurity against China.

  The bill, called the “Taiwan Cybersecurity Resiliency Act,” would authorize the US Department of Defense to conduct cybersecurity exercises with Taiwan and defend the nation’s military networks and infrastructure.

  “We must push back on the Chinese Communist Party’s [CCP] growing aggression, and its attempts to undermine democracy around the world — including through hostile cyber actions,” US Senator Jacky Rosen, one of the bill’s four cosponsors, said in a statement.

  

  US Representative Mike Gallagher looks at a map during a US House of Representatives Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party meeting in Washington on Wednesday.

  Photo: REUTERS

  “All too often, we’ve seen Taiwan used as a testing ground for China’s cyberattacks, later used against the United States,” Rosen said, citing 20 million to 40 million Chinese cyberattacks against Taiwan per month in 2019.

  The bill’s three other cosponsors are US Senator Mike Rounds, and US representatives Chrissy Houlahan and Mike Gallagher, who chairs the US House of Representatives Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the US and the Chinese Communist Party.

  “This bill helps arm Taiwan to the teeth in the cyberdomain by strengthening Taiwan’s cyberforces and building an even stronger partnership between our two countries,” Gallagher said, adding that Chinese cyberattacks could have “devastating” effects.

  Houlahan, who referred to Taiwan as “a close ally and important strategic partner,” said that the nation’s “critical infrastructure resilience is absolutely imperative to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

  However, legislation related to US national security is rarely passed as a standalone bill, defense-focused news Web site Breaking Defense said, adding that the bill would most likely be seriously considered later this year “when lawmakers begin drafting the annual defense policy and spending bills.”

  Separately, US Indo-Pacific Command Commander Admiral John Aquilino said that it is Washington’s priority to enhance cybersecurity capabilities in cooperation with US allies in the Indo-Pacific region.

  US arms deliveries to Taiwan would not affect Washington’s military support of Ukraine, he said, adding that “the US is the only global force capable of managing multiple threats.”

  Meanwhile, a US congressional war game simulating a Chinese invasion of Taiwan showed the need to arm the nation “to the teeth,” Gallagher said.

  The exercise showed the US must boost production of long-range missiles and businesses must brace for economic fallout, he said.

  The Select Committee conducted the unusual tabletop exercise on Wednesday evening with the Washington-based Center for a New American Security think tank, which showed that resupplying Taiwan would be impossible after a conflict begins.

  “We are well within the window of maximum danger for a Chinese Communist Party invasion of Taiwan, and yesterday’s war game stressed the need to take action to deter CCP aggression and arm Taiwan to the teeth before any crisis begins,” Gallagher said in a statement.

  The US must clear a US$19 billion weapons backlog to Taiwan, conduct enhanced joint military training and reinforce US troops in the region, he said.

  Anxiety about a possible conflict over Taiwan has become a rare bipartisan issue in Washington.

  US officials say Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has ordered his military to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027, but acknowledge that it does not mean China has decided to do so.

  The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the war game.

  A person close to the committee outlined for Reuters the war game’s conclusions, which included high US losses if Washington did not shore up basing agreements with regional allies, rapid depletion of long-range missile stockpiles and world markets in “absolute tatters.”

  “The business community is not taking the threat of a Taiwan crisis seriously enough,” Gallagher said ahead of the game, adding that such an attitude “verges on dereliction of fiduciary duty.”

  Additional reporting by REUTERS
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