Protective measures are to be implemented this month in the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command, including pseudonyms for personnel, and improving internal and external information control, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said yesterday.
China’s Guangzhou City Public Security Bureau on Thursday last week said that it was offering a bounty for 20 people who work for the command for alleged cyberattacks targeting China.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office yesterday said that it would be monitoring all command personnel.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
Taiwanese military experts said that the Ministry of National Defense should reinstate the Military Service Number system, which would decouple military personnel from the national ID system.
Some suspect that a list of command personnel has been leaked to Beijing.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lo Mei-ling (羅美玲) said that the ease with which Chinese agencies have sourced information on personnel at the command, which should be restricted as stipulated in the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法), demonstrated a lack of emphasis on information protection at the command.
Command Chief of Staff Major General Chou Wen-hisang (周文祥) said that the information the Chinese agencies released was cobbled together from public Internet sources and that two-thirds of the people on the list have retired.
In response to questions from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲), Chou said that the command believes the information was sourced from Facebook or job-seeking sites.
The information about personnel at the command above a certain rank is public, Koo said.
The command has measures in place to protect identities, Chou said, adding that the rights and safety of its personnel are ensured.
DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said that inaction over China’s claims would embolden China’s “long-arm jurisdiction” and legal warfare tactics.
China’s “united front” rhetoric, as well as other forms of cognitive warfare aided and abetted by pro-Chinese sympathizers in Taiwan, occurs daily, but the ministry has never considered Taiwan to be under China’s jurisdiction, a fact that must be made clear on the international stage, Koo said.
China conducts the most cyberattacks and among the ministry’s core duties is to ensure information and network safety for the military, he said, adding that the ministry would create appropriate protective measures as stipulated by the National Intelligence Services Act.
NETWORK-MAPPING PROJECT: The database contains 170 detailed files of Taiwanese politicians and about 23 million records of household registration data in Taiwan China has developed a network-mapping project targeting political figures and parties in Taiwan to monitor public opinion during elections and to craft tailored influence campaigns aimed at dividing Taiwanese society, according to documents leaked by Chinese technology firm GoLaxy (中科天璣). The documents, collected by Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, showed a database was specifically created to gather detailed information on Taiwanese political figures, including their political affiliations, job histories, birthplaces, residences, education, religion and a brief biography about them. Several notable Taiwanese politicians are in the database, including President William Lai (賴清德), former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍),
RECOGNITION: Former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy serves as a stabilizing force in the Indo-Pacific region Taiwan can lead the unification of the Chinese people, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa said in Taipei yesterday, adding that as the world order is changing, peaceful discussion would find good solutions, and that the use of force and coercion would always fail. Walesa made the remarks during his keynote address at a luncheon of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Walesa said that he had been at the forefront of a big peaceful revolution and “if
UPGRADED MISSILE: The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology is reportedly to conduct a live-fire test of the Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile on Thursday next week The US Army is planning to build new facilities to boost explosives production and strengthen its supply chain, a move aimed at addressing munitions shortages and supporting obligations to partners including Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel, Defense News reported. The army has issued a sources sought notice for a proposed Center of Excellence at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, the report said. The facility would serve as a hub within the US industrial base for the production of key military explosives, including research department explosives (RDX) and high melting explosives (HMX), while also supporting research and development of next-generation materials. The proposed
SOUTH KOREA DISPUTE: If Seoul continues to ignore its request, Taiwan would change South Korea’s designation on its arrival cards, the foreign ministry said If South Korea does not reply appropriately to a request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, the government would take corresponding measures to change how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. Taipei has asked Seoul to change the wording. Since March 1, South Koreans who hold government-issued Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) have been identified as from “South Korea” rather than the “Republic of Korea,” the
RSS