China is prepared to interfere in November’s nine-in-one local elections by launching massive attacks on the Taiwanese government’s service network (GSN), a report published by the National Security Bureau showed.
The report was submitted to the Legislative Yuan ahead of the bureau’s scheduled briefing at the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow.
The national security team has identified about 13,000 suspicious Internet accounts and 860,000 disputed messages, the bureau said of China’s cognitive warfare against Taiwan.
Photo courtesy of the National Security Bureau
The disputed messages focus on major foreign affairs, national defense and economic issues, which were produced using generative artificial intelligence (AI) and distributed through Chinese state media, Internet trolls, suspicious accounts and content farms, the bureau said in the report.
Meanwhile, the government service network was attacked more than 173.28 million times during the first quarter this year, the bureau said, adding that the actions could be a prelude to Chinese intervention in the nine-in-one elections.
They were also designed for intelligence-gathering, surveillance and data theft purposes, it said.
“For the elections at the end of this year, China is expected to intervene by adopting a hybrid approach, including spreading disputed content using AI-powered deep-fake technology, publishing false public opinion surveys and setting up illegal betting rings,” the bureau said.
Beijing is also likely to try to sway election outcomes by inviting Taiwanese tour groups to China, paying for their travel costs, and purchasing agricultural products from pro-China cities or counties, the bureau said.
In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace more than 420 times during the first quarter, the report said
These incursions were coordinated with Chinese naval vessels to conduct 10 “joint combat readiness patrols,” and were designed to test operational capabilities against Taiwan through periodic drills, the bureau said.
China Coast Guard vessels intruded into the restricted and prohibited waters around Kinmen County 44 times last year, and 12 times in the first quarter, the report said.
During the operations, the vessels deliberately turned off their automatic identification system (AIS) to test Taiwan’s surveillance and response capabilities, the bureau said.
China has also deployed a “shadow fleet” to support military training, it said.
Last year, there were four incidents involving damage to undersea cables serving Taiwan’s outling islands, three of which were suspected to have been caused by Chinese vessels, it said.
Chinese survey and research ships have frequently conducted hydrological surveys and seabed mapping in waters surrounding Taiwan, raising concerns that such activities might be intended to support battlefield reconnaissance and operational planning in key maritime areas, the bureau said.
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