China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan.
The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today.
Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about 80 percent from 1,703 times in 2023, it said.
On March 17, the PLA conducted two combat readiness patrols in a single day for the first time, it said.
It also launched military exercises on Tuesday and Wednesday last week, amplifying pressure against Taiwan, it said.
The bureau added that Beijing is diversifying its “gray zone” tactics, including expanding the use of drones to conduct surveillance around Taiwan.
As of March 21, the China Coast Guard had conducted 11 patrols in the waters around Kinmen County, compared with 52 throughout last year, it said.
Other Chinese ships have lingered in the waters to the north and southwest of Taiwan, which are suspected of damaging undersea communication cables, it said.
China has also increased its use of weather balloons, releasing 76 so far this year as of March 19, compared with 147 last year, it said.
The balloons force Taiwan to dispatch monitoring forces, taking up response resources and undermining external communication resilience, it said.
Intensified US containment of China across various domains presents both challenges and opportunities for Taiwan’s intelligence operations, it said.
The NSB would expand communication and intelligence cooperation with international partners, and enhance its strategic analysis skills to strengthen Taiwan’s defense against China, it said.
The bureau added that 159 people suspected of spying for China have been indicted since 2020, 60 percent of whom are active-duty or retired military personnel.
Tactics employed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to turn Taiwanese military personnel into spies include targeting retired personnel and using them to approach active members, recruiting them through the Internet, enticing them with monetary rewards and targeting indebted service members, the bureau said.
The CCP has been collaborating with criminal gangs, shell companies, moneylenders, temples and civic groups to approach entry-level military personnel who have financial problems, showing that it does not only target ranking officers, it said.
Of the 95 active-duty and retired military personnel indicted, 46 were commissioned officers, 27 were non-commissioned officers and 22 were soldiers, showing that the CCP has infiltrated all levels of the military, it said.
The NSB said that it would work more closely with other national security agencies in investigating Chinese infiltration tactics and safeguarding against potential national security risks.
It vowed to strengthen the collaboration between investigators, prosecutors, intelligence workers and military intelligence officers to facilitate investigations into cases related to national security.
Separately, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said that one measure to improve intelligence security in the military is running tighter personnel background checks before people are granted access to classified intelligence.
“Spies for the CCP are indeed everywhere, and they will exhaust all options to get intelligence,” Koo told reporters before a legislative meeting.
Stressing that the armed forces routinely educate service members about countering espionage, Koo said that 87 percent of espionage cases involving military personnel were reported by active-duty service members.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS