National security agencies have cooperated with other countries on information exchanges to prevent China from attempting to interfere in next year’s presidential and legislative elections using illegal funding, an anonymous senior government official said yesterday.
China’s cognitive warfare efforts have been on the rise, with 1,400 possible cases reported from January to June last year, 1,600 reported from July to December last year and 1,800 reported from January to last month, the official said.
The number of cases could increase in the latter half of the year, they added.
Photo: Reuters
Illegal cash flows related to election meddling are difficult to detect and seize as they have a supplier and receiver, and flow in different directions, the official said.
The easiest to uncover is the receiver, which could be someone planted in Taiwan to interfere in elections, they said.
China conducts cognitive warfare by creating an atmosphere that war is imminent in the Taiwan Strait to instill fear, the official said.
By criticizing Taiwan and its international allies, and by manipulating the public into believing that foreign delegations only visit Taiwan due to business interests, China tries to convince Taiwanese that the nation’s international partners are not trustworthy, the official said.
Beijing later uses controversial domestic policies to its advantage when election campaigns are in full swing, they added.
China also uses economic means to interfere in Taiwan’s elections, such as when it banned imports of certain Taiwanese agricultural and fishery products, the official said.
Beijing began to lift the bans recently as the elections are approaching to create the impression that it is bestowing favors on Taiwan, they said.
Separately, the government plans to conduct a large-scale security exercise next month to ensure the security of candidates in the presidential election, another senior government official said.
The exercise was scheduled after the National Security Bureau last month gathered representatives from the National Police Agency, the Investigation Bureau and local police stations to conduct a dry run based on possible security breaches, they said.
The aim of the exercise is to perfect early warning systems and ensure maximum security, the official said.
Security for the elections includes preventing organized or one-off attacks, such as the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe or when an explosive device was thrown in the direction of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the official said.
One-off attacks such as those are difficult to guard against, as there would be no criminal records or warning signs to indicate a threat, they said.
What the government can do is build a good security system, the official said.
“Of course, intelligence is important,” they added.
Additional reporting by Lo Tien-pin
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
‘COMMITTED TO DETERRENCE’: Washington would stand by its allies, but it can only help as much as countries help themselves, Raymond Greene said The US is committed to deterrence in the first island chain, but it should not bear the burden alone, as “freedom is not free,” American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said in a speech at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s “Strengthening Resilience: Defense as the Engine of Development” seminar in Taipei yesterday. In the speech, titled “Investing Together and a Secure and Prosperous Future,” Greene highlighted the contributions of US President Donald Trump’s administration to Taiwan’s defense efforts, including the establishment of supply chains for drones and autonomous systems, offers of security assistance and the expansion of
RSS