China is likely to continue using economic and cyberoperations against Taiwan to force it to capitulate without resorting to a military attack, Fox News reported yesterday, citing the outcome of a tabletop exercise.
Washington-based think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) earlier this month held a tabletop exercise in Taipei focusing on Beijing’s use of economic and cybercoercion against Taiwan.
The FDD mentioned an “anaconda strategy,” in which Beijing would likely use cyberwarfare and disinformation campaigns followed by a blockade or other measures to strangulate Taiwan, rather than attempting an invasion, the report said.
Photo: Reuters
A large-scale cyberattack would be far costlier to defend against than to launch, thereby giving China the advantage, it said.
“This asymmetry allows China to exert considerable pressure on Taiwan without triggering a direct US military response,” it said, adding that China would use covert cyberwarfare operations that provide it with “just enough cover to maintain plausible deniability.”
Former US Navy rear admiral Mark Montgomery, senior director of the FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation, said in an online interview Taiwan faces severe challenges in sustaining its economy in the event of an attack on its critical infrastructure by China.
“How do you keep things going during a series of interlaced critical infrastructure failures, where electrical power drives a problem with financial services, things like that?” he asked.
In addition to cyberattacks, China might also attempt to affect the morale of Taiwanese by spreading misinformation, the report suggested.
In the report, researcher Dean Karalekas said that while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has spurred preparation in Taiwan, that preparation might not be particularly useful.
Rather than kinetic warfare such as the one in Ukraine, Taiwan was more likely to face being cut off from its supplies of energy, food and other imports, he said.
The FDD said that Taiwan’s reserve troops are poorly trained and lack sufficient equipment to effectively support the regular army in wartime.
Taiwan is also highly dependent on imported liquefied natural gas and has limited energy reserves, it said.
“Once key routes are blocked, it may fall into an energy shortage crisis, and although Taiwan actively develops green energy such as wind power generation, these facilities can easily become targets of enemy attacks during wartime, making it difficult to provide a stable power supply,” it said.
The team recommended that Taiwan actively demonstrate to the international community its determination to defend itself and resolve through specific actions, including increasing its defense budget, strengthening reserve force training and diversifying energy sources.
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
RSS