China’s issuing of a bounty for a so-called “Taiwan psychological warfare unit” was an obvious act of cognitive warfare that “was crude and inept,” the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday.
The move reflected the “despotic and pig-headed thinking of an authoritarian regime ... trying to divide our people, belittle our government,” it added.
The remarks came in response to the Chinese police yesterday offering rewards for information about 18 people it said were Taiwanese military psychological operations officers spreading “separatist” messages.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
The public security bureau in the Chinese city of Xiamen said the 18 people were core members of the military’s “psychological warfare unit,” and published their pictures, names and Taiwanese ID numbers.
The unit has six divisions, which handle tasks including information warfare, intelligence gathering, tactical psychological warfare, disseminating propaganda, boosting troop morale and mobilization of wartime units, the Xiamen Municipal Public Security Bureau said in a statement.
“For a long time they plotted to incite separatist activities,” it said, adding that there would be rewards of up to 10,000 yuan (US$1,405) for tips leading to their arrest.
The unit launched Web sites for smear campaigns, created seditious games to incite secession, produced fake video content to mislead people, operated illegal radios for “infiltration” and manipulated public opinion with resources from “external forces,” China’s state-controled Xinhua said in a separate report.
The Xiamen Public Security Bureau also called on “Taiwanese compatriots” to realize the danger of “Taiwanese independence” extremists, and “draw a clear line” with separatist forces and work together with China to oppose “Taiwan independence” activities.
The ministry said the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has repeatedly released such reports, “exploiting the free flow of information in our democratic society to fabricate personal data aimed at dividing the public and undermining morale.”
However, these efforts only highlight that Beijing’s cognitive warfare tactics have reached a dead end, it said.
Defending national security, and protecting the safety and well-being of the public is the unshakable duty of every military officer and soldier, the ministry said.
It urged the public to continue supporting the armed forces and national defense efforts, and to strengthen Taiwan’s security through closer military-civilian cooperation.
The wanted notice is largely symbolic, as Taiwanese intelligence officers do not travel openly to China, and Beijing’s legal system holds no jurisdiction over Taiwan.
In June, China issued a similar bounty for the arrest of 20 people it said were Taiwanese military hackers. Taiwan dismissed that threat, saying it would not be intimidated.
Separately, the Chinese Ministry of State Security on Friday issued a bounty for three people it said were lieutenant colonels in the Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB), adding that they operated a private company called the “Taiwanese Independence Navy” and conducted propaganda campaigns against China.
The MIB yesterday said that the CCP decision to spread such disinformation on Double Ten National Day was a familiar tactic aimed at discrediting the military and rallying domestic support in China to distract from its own poor governance.
The bureau said the CCP was invoking domestic law to handle external affairs and systematically manipulating public opinion to project an image of “long-arm jurisdiction,” to undermine the morale of Taiwanese and the armed forces.
The MIB said it would continue to provide policy guidance according to intelligence and carefully execute various types of intelligence gathering work to safeguard national security.
Former MIB director-general Liu Te-liang (劉德良) said the CCP’s bounty move suggested that Taiwan’s intelligence and counterintelligence efforts had achieved meaningful results, striking a nerve in Beijing.
The CCP’s bounty tactic is designed to give the impression that China had infiltrated the MIB, while also intimidating Taiwan’s military personnel, disrupting talent recruitment and damaging morale, he said.
By releasing personal information on Taiwan’s military officers, Beijing hopes to stoke concern among Taiwanese society, media, legislators and the Control Yuan over the MIB’s competence, potentially leading to public criticism and budget cuts, Liu said, adding that its purpose is to weaken Taiwan’s intelligence warfare capabilities.
Additional reporting by Lo Tien-bin
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