Hengchun, Sep 6: Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said Tuesday that China is conducting “cognitive warfare” by spreading misinformation in addition to its regular incursions into nearby waters and airspace intended at intimidating the self-governing island.
Experts have warned that China has made substantial inroads within Taiwanese mass media and could plant false narratives in social media and elsewhere to erode military morale and public confidence in the event it makes good on its threat to use force to take control of the island it claims as its own territory.
“The situation around the Taiwan Strait continues to be tense, and the threat has never ceased,” Tsai said in a speech during a visit to an air defense and missile battalion in the eastern country of Hualien.
“In addition to frequent intrusions by China’s aircraft and ships, China also conducted cognitive warfare, using false information to create disturbance in minds of people,” the president said.
Tsai also referenced China’s use of drones “to increase pressure on Taiwan’s military,” following incidents in which Taiwanese troops based on islands just off the Chinese coast warned off and in once case, shot down unmanned aerial vehicles that had been hovering over their positions.
Anti-drone defenses are included in a 12.9% increase in Taiwan’s budget for next year. The rise will increase total spending to $13.8 billion, or roughly 2.4% of GDP.
Taiwan on Tuesday was also launching military exercises on the Hengchun Peninsula in the far south of the island simulating ground warfare against an invading enemy, aided by Apache attack helicopters.
Alongside promoting Taiwan’s high-tech economy, Tsai has made strengthening the island’s defenses a key feature of her second and last four-year term in office. That includes bulking up the domestic defense industry as well as procuring more weaponry from the U.S., including fighter jets and missiles, to resist a Chinese attack or attempted blockade.
On Friday, the Biden administration announced a $1.09 billion sale, including $355 million for Harpoon air-to-sea missiles and $85 million for Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, the State Department said.
The largest portion of the sale, however, is a $655 million logistics support package for Taiwan’s surveillance radar program, which provides air defense warnings. (AP)
