China might increase the pressure, officials warn
DOUBLE AGENDA: The National Security Bureau said Beijing is trying to defeat containment by Washington, but without giving up its opportunities to collaborate
By Wu Su-wei and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
China might ratchet up pressure on Taiwan as the Chinese Communist Party’s centennial nears, national security officials warned, adding that Beijing’s hegemonic ambitions pose a threat to regional stability.
The National Security Bureau made the remarks in a report it sent to the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee ahead of a session scheduled for tomorrow.
Taiwan Business TOPICS
The ROC’s two territories in the region have strategic and political significance, yet both are difficult to defend.
Taiwan’s Coast Guard in March twice conducted live-fire drills on the Pratas Islands – known in Chinese as the “Dongsha” – located in the South China Sea 450 kilometers southwest of Kaohsiung. Such exercises were rare in years past. The Pratas are tiny, without permanent inhabitants, and remote. Among territories administered by Taiwan, only Itu Aba (Taiping Island), part of the Spratly Island archipelago, is more far-flung.
Yet the Pratas’ geography makes them vulnerable to Chinese coercion. Not only are the islets far from Taiwan, they also are flat and devoid of any natural defense positions. Beijing claims the Pratas along with almost all of the 3.5 million-square-kilometer South China Sea, where it has built many military installations. The Pratas are closer to Guangdong Province than to Taiwan – about 260 kilometers fro
Exploring Chinese Military Thinking on Social Media Manipulation Against Taiwan
Publication: China Brief Volume: 21 Issue: 7
April 12, 2021 01:56 PM
Age: 2 days
Image: Supporters of the Kuomintang (KMT) candidate Ting Shou-chung watch Taipei City mayoral election results come in on November 24, 2018 (Image source: Taiwan News).
Introduction
Much has been written about China’s social media manipulation in Taiwan following the 2018 nine-in-one local elections, but both Taiwanese and Western analyses have skewed heavily towards the impact of this disinformation, overlooking how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) developed its interest in social media manipulation, its planning and preparation against Taiwan specifically, and the evolution of its tactics over time.
Blinken reaffirms Taiwan commitments
Staff writer, with CNA, WASHINGTON
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday said that the US is concerned about China’s aggressive actions against Taiwan and remains committed to ensuring Taiwan “has the ability to defend itself.”
“What we’ve seen, and what is of real concern to us, is increasingly aggressive actions by the government in Beijing directed at Taiwan, raising tensions in the straits,” Blinken said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press.
He said Washington has a longstanding bipartisan commitment to Taipei under the Taiwan Relations Act to ensure Taiwan “has the ability to defend itself,” and to make sure the US is sustaining peace and security in the western Pacific.