China Steps Up Actions Targeting Taiwan's Military

TaiwanPlus News

China has recently intensified moves against Taiwan’s military, including through espionage and a bounty list. Experts say the goal is to intimidate and sow division within the country's armed forces.

Transcript

00:00This is Taiwan's domestically developed Xiongfeng-2 anti-ship missile,

00:06a supersonic weapon designed to counter naval threats.

00:10But classified information about the system may have been leaked.

00:14An investigation found that a Navy corporal surnamed Lin,

00:17who was discharged in 2021, met a Chinese intelligence agent through a dating app.

00:23He then acted as an intermediary, helping pass on documents,

00:26including the Xiongfeng-2 missile launcher's drill manual,

00:30operator handbook, and other related classified materials.

00:34Prosecutors have detained Lin and indicted him for violating the National Security Act.

00:40Taiwan's Defense Ministry says the case came to light

00:43after other service members came forward and reported it.

00:46An expert says the leak could force Taiwan to revise its training and deployment plan,

00:59which is extremely costly, but proving the case isn't an easy task.

01:16In addition to the spying case, Beijing has stepped up other actions targeting Taiwan's military.

01:33After Taiwan celebrated its national day on October 10th,

01:37China published a list of 18 members from Taiwan's Psychological Warfare Battalion and announced bounties on them.

01:45Chinese state media even warned that its investigators have identified all 250-plus members of the unit,

01:51including their real identities and duties.

01:55Taiwan's Defense Ministry says the move is part of Beijing's cognitive warfare campaign

01:59and called the tactics crude and clumsy.

02:03Experts note that the so-called bounty is largely symbolic.

02:06Beijing's recent actions combine legal warfare and cognitive warfare.

02:12Of course, it's symbolic.

02:14Beijing has no judicial authorities over Taiwan,

02:17but the simple doesn't mean harmless in psychological warfare.

02:23These recent moves, the expert says, are aimed to unsettle the soldiers' families,

02:28amplify China's propaganda, and ultimately sow distrust within the combat unit.

02:33Taiwan says to better protect national security,

02:37it will strengthen safeguards against espionage

02:39and improve counter-infiltration training within the military.

02:43Howard Chang and Anna Liu for Taiwan Plus.

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