Drone incursions and psychological pressure are strategies that China seeks to develop, a senior security official in Taipei claims
A Chinese-made unmanned aerial vehicle and missiles on display at an airshow in Zhuhai. © AFP / Noel Celis
China is drawing lessons from the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine to develop “hybrid warfare” strategies against Taiwan, a high-ranking security official of the self-governed island has said.
“This year, the [Chinese] communist military has borrowed from the experience of the Russia-Ukraine war to develop ‘hybrid warfare’ against Taiwan and strengthen its combat training and preparation against strong enemies,” the head of Taiwan’s national security bureau Chen Ming-tong told the lawmakers in Taipei on Wednesday.
Tensions between China and the self-governed island of Taiwan, which Beijing views as part of Chinese territory, have been running high since the visit of US House speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei in August. The Chinese authorities called the trip an infringement of the country’s sovereignty and reacted by launching the largest ever military exercises around Taiwan, effectively cutting the island off from the rest of the world for days.
Following those drills, Beijing expanded its “grey zone” and hybrid activities against Taiwan, especially with the use of UAVs, which were spotted near Taipei-controlled islands off China’s coast as well as in Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, Chen claimed.
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The drone footage of Taiwanese troops on the islands near China, which had been circulating on social media in August, was an attempt by Beijing to “slander” Taipei’s forces and attack the island’s government, he insisted.
This and other moves “highlight that the Chinese communists have increased their cognitive warfare, ‘grey zone’ activities and other hybrid methods, which have constituted a new form of threat to national security,” the official said.
According to Chen, China’s increased activities around Taiwan have only bolstered the support from the US and other allies to ensure that what happened in Ukraine wouldn’t be repeated on the island.
This help will boost Taipei’s ability to deal with the Chinese and deter “their plots to attack Taiwan,” he insisted.
China has been saying that a peaceful reunification with Taiwan was preferable, but warned that it won’t hesitate to use force against it if the island of 25 million eventually tries to declare independence.
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In August, the commander of the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet, Admiral Samuel Paparo, also claimed that “China is undoubtedly watching what’s happened in Ukraine, taking notes, and learning from it” in order to improve its capabilities.
