China has been steadily ramping up the frequency of its military operations near Taiwan and advancing new defence equipment, signalling efforts to sharpen its capability for launching a potential surprise assault, Taiwan’s defence ministry stated on Thursday.
Democratically-governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has faced increased military pressure from Beijing over the past five years, including at least six rounds of major war games around the island since 2022.
China has been using artificial intelligence tools to weaken Taiwan’s cybersecurity and to scan for weak points in critical infrastructure, the defence ministry said in a report released every two years.
‘Hybrid Warfare’
Beijing is also using “hybrid warfare” to weaken people’s trust in the government and support for defence spending, and stepping up “grey zone” harassment, it added, referring to non-combat operations such as coast guard patrols designed to pressure Taiwan.
“Through both conventional and unconventional military actions, it aims to test its capabilities for attacking Taiwan and confronting foreign forces,” the ministry said.
China could try to suddenly shift drills into active combat mode to catch Taiwan and its international supporters off guard, posing a significant threat to regional peace and security, it added.
Shift In Tactics
In recent years, China has been extensively using civilian roll-on/roll-off merchant vessels for military transport operations and continues to develop specialised equipment for beach landing operations, the ministry said.
China’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Beijing’s Harsh Criticism
China considers Taiwan President Lai Ching-te a “separatist”. Lai rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.
On Wednesday, shortly after Lai gave an interview lauding US President Donald Trump, China said the former is “prostituting” himself to foreigners to try and win their favour but his schemes are doomed to fail.
Using unusually strong wording, Beijing said: “He has engaged in unprincipled foreign pandering and bottomless selling out of Taiwan, squandering the flesh and blood of the people, prostituting himself and throwing in his lot with foreign forces.”
(With inputs from Reuters)
