China aims to sap Taiwan morale with 'escape plan' misinformation -
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[July 07, 2023]
By Yimou Lee
TAIPEI (Reuters) - China has launched a misinformation campaign that
includes news reports Taiwan's president has an "escape plan" in the
event of a Chinese invasion, aiming to sap morale as Beijing presses the
island to accept its sovereignty, Taiwan officials said.
Taiwan is on high alert for what it sees as China's attempts to sway
public opinion on the democratically governed island, including through
illicitly funding Beijing-friendly candidates in the run-up to a
presidential election next year, according to security reports reviewed
by Reuters in June.
Taiwan will later this month hold its most important annual military
exercises, known as the Han Kuang drills, that will include for the
first time the temporary shutdown of its main international airport in a
simulation of repelling enemies, as China ramps up military pressure on
the island.
Starting in May, news reports that include misinformation on military
activities by Taiwan and its main ally the United States have surfaced
in Chinese state media, part of a campaign to sway opinion in Taiwan,
according to several Taiwan officials with direct knowledge of the
matter.
China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment.
At least a dozen of the news reports have said the Han Kuang exercises
were in fact an "escape rehearsal" for Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and
evacuation drills for U.S. citizens in the event of a Chinese invasion,
said the officials, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity
of the matter.
"They want to portray the Han Kuang exercises into a rehearsal for an
escape plan," said one of the officials familiar with Taiwan's security
planning, adding that Beijing's aim was to create panic and weaken
public trust in Taiwan's leadership.
The de facto U.S. embassy in Taipei declined to comment.
Some of the media reports were first published by online news sites run
by China's Taiwan Affairs Office before appearing in media outlets in
Taiwan and Hong Kong, according to the officials and a Reuters review of
the reports.
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Chess pieces are seen in front of
displayed China and Taiwan's flags in this illustration taken
January 25, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
The officials said the Chinese campaign was overseen by Beijing's
Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, which is chaired by
President Xi Jinping, and carried out by various government units
including the Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing.
Taiwan's China policy-making Mainland Affairs Office said in a
statement to Reuters that Beijing is always trying to "damage the
prestige of our government, divide Taiwanese society and weaken the
support of the international community".
"The government will immediately clarify false information, and use
specific actions to show its determination to defend itself," it
added.
The Taiwan officials also dismissed as "propaganda" at least 10
reports by Chinese and Taiwan news outlets in recent weeks that have
said Beijing is capable of destroying an entire U.S. carrier group
in the Pacific with 24 ballistic missiles, citing a research paper
based on a computer-generated war simulation published by a Chinese
university linked to the People's Liberation Army.
Researchers who work closely with security officials in Taiwan have
spent weeks trying to verify the report with computer-aided
simulations but failed to recreate similar results, the sources
said, calling the reports part of "Chinese propaganda" ahead of
Taiwan's military exercises.
"They want to sell fear," said one of the sources, a senior official
familiar with Taiwan's security planning.
"They want us to give up making preparations and surrender right
away."
(Reporting By Yimou Lee; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard;
Editing by Rob Birsel)
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