China is refining its information warfare tactics in an attempt to create animosity toward the government and nations friendly to Taiwan, an information security official said on Saturday, following the release of a fabricated Presidential Office announcement online.
A fake announcement that appeared to be from the Presidential Office was circulated on Facebook on Thursday, claiming that the government planned to accept contaminated wastewater from Japan’s crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.
The post was reported to authorities, who on Friday confirmed that it was fake and had originated in China.
The announcement showed improvements in China’s ability to fabricate misinformation compared with attempts made last year, but there were still telltale signs that it was fake, Division of Cyber Warfare and Information Security head Tseng Yi-shuo (曾怡碩) said.
The announcement was an attempt by China to sow mistrust in the government, and to create a divide in the Taiwan-Japan relationship, he said.
Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau officers in December last year investigated two Taiwanese who were spreading a fake Presidential Office announcement alleging Taiwanese and US involvement in protests in Thailand.
The investigators found that the men had spent time in China where Chinese officials trained them to fabricate and disseminate misinformation, he said.
“Comparing that announcement made in December with this recent one, there are obvious improvements — there are much fewer errors,” he said.
The announcement alleged that the wastewater would be brought into Taiwan through Kaohsiung’s Zuoying (左營) naval base, which was likely meant to harm the Democratic Progressive Party administration’s support base in southern Taiwan, he said.
“Beijing increasingly understands the situation in Taiwan, and it has a grasp on the sensitive issues in different communities,” he said.
The situation could be compared to Russia’s interference in social issues in the US last year, with the purpose of affecting the outcome of the US’ presidential election, he said.
Meanwhile, political science researcher Ho Cheng-hui (何澄輝) said that while altering images and documents requires only minimal skill, what was important is what the timing and content of the document showed about who was really behind it.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is aware that Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong has weakened any possible sentiment for a “one country, two systems” arrangement for Taiwan, and has instructed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politburo member Wang Huning (王滬寧) to develop new ways of defining cross-strait relations, Japanese news magazine Nikkei Asia reported on Thursday. A former professor of international politics at Fu Dan University, Wang is expected to develop a dialogue that could serve as the foundation for cross-strait unification, and Xi plans to use the framework to support a fourth term as president, Nikkei Asia quoted an anonymous source
LUCKY DATE: The man picked the 10th ‘Super Red Envelope’ in a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10 A man who recently broke up with his girlfriend won a NT$1 million (US$32,929) prize in the “NT$20 million Super Red Envelope” lottery after picking a card based on the date of their breakup, Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The man, in his 20s, bought the 10th ticket at a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢), because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10, the store owner told the lottery company. The “Super Red Envelope” lottery was a limited offering by the company during the Lunar New Year holiday, which ended yesterday. The cards, which cost NT$2,000 each, came with
TOURISM BOOST: The transportation system could help attract more visitors to the area, as the line is to connect multiple cultural sites, a city councilor said Residents in New Taipei City’s Ankeng District (安坑) said the local light rail system might have a positive influence, but raised questions about its practicality. The Ankeng light rail system, which is to commence operations after the Lunar New Year holiday, would cut travel time for commuters from Ankeng to downtown Taipei or New Taipei City by 15 to 20 minutes, the city government said. According to the initial plan, there would be one train every 15 minutes during peak time and additional interval trains would run between the densely populated Ankang Station (安康) and Shisizhang Station (十 四張). To encourage people to
CHAMPION TREES: The team used light detection and ranging imaging to locate the tree, and found that it measured a height of 84.1m and had a girth of 8.5m A team committed to finding the tallest trees in the nation yesterday said that an 84.1m tall Taiwania cryptomerioides tree had been named the tallest tree in Taiwan and East Asia. The Taiwan Champion Trees, a team consisting of researchers from the Council of Agriculture’s Taiwan Forestry Research Institute and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), in June last year used light detection and ranging (LiDAR) imaging to find the giant tree, numbered 55214, upstream of the Daan River (大安溪). A 20-member expedition team led by Rebecca Hsu (徐嘉君), an assistant researcher at the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, set out to find the
RSS