The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is stepping up efforts to sow discord in Taiwan by conducting military exercises and inciting distrust of the US, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report to the legislature on Tuesday.
NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) and Overseas Community Affairs Council Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) were asked to brief the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Wednesday on how the CCP’s “composite threat” affects Taiwan’s national security.
China has launched military exercises in an attempt to create the impression that Taiwan was on the brink of war after then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei in August last year and after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) stopped over in the US this month, the bureau said.
Beijing has also hyped up issues such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) establishing production facilities in Arizona, claimed that US carriers were “running away” from the newest Chinese aircraft carrier, the Shandong, and propagated reports saying that “the US is abandoning Taiwan” in an attempt to shake the nation’s faith in the US.
Beijing is stepping up hacking efforts that attack crucial Taiwanese facilities and using the Internet to engage in cognitive warfare, the bureau said.
Beijing is also processing hacked data for redistribution or selling it on the dark net to attract media attention and, through repeated reporting on such attacks, shake the public’s faith in the government, it said.
Beijing is also attempting to sow discord by promising Taiwanese “benefits” for interacting with China, it said.
Beijing is blaming Taiwan for the deterioration of cross-strait relations, while launching an investigation into Taiwan’s trade policies, which it is expected to extend until next year’s presidential election to sway public opinion, the bureau said.
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