TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) argued on Tuesday (March 12) that individuals whose statements favor the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) can preliminarily be identified as local "collaborators" in the CCP's cognitive warfare. These claims, however, need confirmation from investigating institutions.
During a Legislative Yuan session, newly elected Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Puma Shen questioned National Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng about the increasingly severe issue of CCP's cognitive warfare.
Chiu stated that defining local collaborators in this indirect form of aggression is difficult, and misinformation is the most apparent form of cognitive warfare, intended to undermine the morale of the military and civilians. He explained that these inside collaborators continually infiltrate and harass the military and public psyche, taking advantage of situations to affect the unsuspecting, which he described as alarming.
In response, Shen recommended examining the issue through a spectrum and proposed standards, such as timing, credibility, and the latency period of accounts. He insisted that when these standards are met, the Taiwanese people should be alerted to the severity of the situation.
This is not the first time the severity of cognitive warfare has been brought up. President Tsai Ing-wen has repeatedly stressed the need for Taiwan to strengthen its resistance to cognitive warfare. The Investigation Bureau established the Cognitive Warfare Research Center on January 17, 2024, to meet these challenges.
Despite these efforts, the opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), disagreed with the DPP's stance. KMT Legislator Lo Chih-chiang stated that the old tactic of "spies are everywhere," which should only occur in the authoritarian era, is overplayed by the DPP.
As Taiwan remains on the frontline of cognitive warfare defenses, given its proximity to the totalitarian regime, improving its capabilities to recognize warfare tactics and boosting public resilience to information warfare is imperative.
