Taiwan’s new president has formally labelled China a “foreign hostile force” and proposed a raft of new national security measures in the face of growing threats and a string of spying cases. “William” Lai Ching-te made the announcement after convening a high-level national security meeting.
New measures include a controversial proposal to restore a military court system as Taiwan finds new ways to respond to the increasing number of Chinese grey zone attacks, which include infiltration of government, military and society. The military court system will prosecute “military crimes as sedition, aiding the enemy, leaking confidential information, dereliction of duty, or disobedience”. President Lai said China met the definition of a “foreign hostile force” under Taiwan’s anti-infiltration act and he had “no choice but to take even more proactive measures”.
“China has been taking advantage of democratic Taiwan’s freedom, diversity, and openness to recruit gangs, the media, commentators, political parties, and even active-duty and retired members of the armed forces and police to carry out actions to divide, destroy, and subvert us from within,” he said.
Lai’s move comes in response to mounting pressure from China in terms of provocative military exercises, infiltration and grey zone attacks, which reportedly sees Taiwan forced to fend off a million cyber attacks a day from the Chinese mainland.
Taiwanese authorities charged 64 people with spying for China last year – a three-fold increase from 2021 – Lai claimed, adding that the majority of them were current or former military officials.
However, his statements prompted an almost immediate reaction from Beijing, which called Lai a “destroyer of cross-Straits peace” and “creator of crisis” who was pushing Taiwan towards the “perilous brink of war”.
“Those who play with fire will surely be burned,” added Beijng.
On Friday morning Taiwan’s defence ministry said 12 fighter jets, seven navy vessels and one “official” ship (likely coast guard) had been detected around Taiwan since 6am. It said nine of the jets crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait.
Asia expert Hans Horan, from the Proximities strategic risk group, said: “President Lai has been very adamant about Taiwan’s independence. That’s why China mounted military exercises around Taiwan after he was elected into office.”
But concerns over US reliably in its defence of Taiwan from a Chinese invasion have increased since Donald Trump came to power.
He said: “There is growing concern over the way President Trump is handling the Ukraine issue. Taipei has been investing more in the US – in TSMC, the chipmaker for instance – and they’re putting factories in the US to appease Trump, but I’m not sure it will be enough.
“Taiwan sees President Zelensky forced into a negotiation table where there’s potential, at least, for the Donbas region to go to Russia. Like Zelensky, Taiwan isn’t willing to let any of its territories go, even its islands.”
He added: “If the US removes its support from Taiwan, Taiwan is in an actual lot of trouble. Their entire defence plan relies on the US. And the next closest ally that would be willing to engage in some type of operation outside of the US would be Japan, but Japan has its own constitutional limitations about what it can really do militarily to defend its allies.”
It leaves Taiwan responsible for its own deterrence. While China has pledged to be militarily ready to invade by 2027, Taiwan has already programmed their entire semiconductor industry to self-destruct rather than falling into Beijing’s hands.
“Taiwan is the crux of the semiconductor industry and its high technology includes things that China can’t replicate at the moment.
“Both the US and Taiwan have pledged not to allow China access to that level of technology. This would set back the Chinese economy – and the world economy, to be fair – by decades.”