China’s “united front” tactics targeting Taiwan’s outlying islands bear a resemblance to the Russian infiltration of Crimea before Moscow’s 2014 invasion of the territory, Taiwan’s top national security official said yesterday.
National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) made the remark in response to questions from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lo Mei-ling (羅美玲) at the Legislative Yuan.
Lo drew parallels between Moscow’s justification of its 2022 invasion as “de-Nazifying” Ukraine and Chinese Nationalist Party Chairman Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) comparison of President William La (賴清德) to Adolf Hitler.
Photo: Wang Teng-yi, Taipei Times
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had pledged cooperation in fighting neo-Nazism in their meeting earlier this month, she said, before asking if Beijing is shaping a narrative to legitimize an invasion of Taiwan.
Tsai said the bureau is studying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to identify tactics Beijing might imitate in a military conflict with Taiwan.
Russia’s and Ukraine’s use of drones in the war is of particular interest to the bureau, he said.
The bureau is also observing whether Beijing would copy Russian political propaganda and cognitive warfare techniques, he added.
Describing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as a Nazi leader has been a staple in Moscow’s political strategy to justify the war, Tsai said.
The NSB identified a push by Moscow to intensify the economic, cultural and ethnic integration of Ukraine and occupied Crimea shortly before the war, a tactic that resembled China’s strategy targeting Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, he said.
Regarding a rise in illegal border crossings by Chinese nationals, Tsai said investigators have not ruled out the possibility that some of the cases were part of Beijing-directed espionage.
An economic motive could explain other cases involving impoverished Chinese nationals, he said.
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