According to a Booz Allen Hamilton report, China’s strategy toward Taiwan involves more than just military intimidation. China is also engaged in influence operations aimed at portraying Taiwan’s leadership as corrupt, highlighting vulnerabilities in public institutions, and undermining confidence in the Taiwanese military. Additionally, China is amassing cyber weapons capable of severely damaging Taiwan’s infrastructure during a crisis. Essentially, the objective is to annex Taiwan without the need for a direct military invasion.
The Booz Allen Hamilton report notes: “By crafting narratives that portray the government as either corrupt, incompetent, or both, the PRC seeks to destabilize Taiwan’s political environment. This approach not only sows internal discord, but also threatens to weaken Taiwan’s global standing. The success of this tactic hinges on the PRC’s ability to play on and worsen citizens’ existing concerns, thereby deepening divisions within Taiwanese society,”
China’s goal is to persuade individuals, ranging from political leaders to ordinary citizens, to relinquish support for the idea of a free and independent Taiwan.
“The PRC is really interested in controlling the cognitive domain. You need to control the systems on which information resides, the context in which we discuss information, but then also how this affects, at the end, how we make decisions. So that is what these information operations are trying to do is try to affect decision making.”
The analyst highlighted that China’s preference is to annex Taiwan without military conflict, but achieving this requires establishing superiority across various domains, not just militarily. One strategy involves accumulating “zero-days,” which are cyber attacks without known defenses, capable of disrupting essential services and the military.
All these efforts are interconnected, aiming to bolster the perception of China as a formidable force while simultaneously instilling doubt in the minds of Taiwan’s leadership.
As the report notes, “The PRC’s engagement in overt forms of national power, such as military posturing, economic initiatives, and diplomatic pressure, often coincides with stealthy cyber operations. This pattern suggests that overt PRC actions in any domain are relevant indicators of accompanying cyber strategies aimed at complementing and reinforcing these public efforts.”
The report offers several recommendations to address China’s integrated intimidation tactics. Among the most critical is the enhancement of cyber defenses for neighboring countries around Taiwan, thereby reinforcing Taiwan’s own cyber resilience. Additionally, other nations in the broader Indo-Pacific region play a pivotal role in resisting China’s attempts to alter the region’s power dynamics. By strengthening the cyber capabilities of these regional allies, the United States not only combats China’s growing influence but also fosters a united stance against potential cyber dangers.
