Taiwan- Taiwan fears high-tech semiconductor industry under threat by spies

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Location: Taipei City

Language: Mandarin

Duration: 00:06:08

Source: A24 subscribers

Restrictions: A24 clients

Dateline: 04/03/2022

Storyline:

Known and renowned for its technological advancement, Taiwan is faced with an espionage war against its high-tech and prized industry of semiconductors, as the country is mostly suffering “hybrid warfare.” Professor Kuo Yujen, who is a researcher at the Institute for National Policy Research (INPR) said that China has ruled out the thought of annexing Taiwan with military force, instead, he explained Beijing would resort to the multipronged hybrid warfare that comprises psychological, information and cognitive warfare.  Yujen said that experts in high-tech technology would enter Taiwan as tourists and recruit Taiwanese directors at high-tech technology companies to work for them, drawing a bleak image of how this war is waged.

Shots list:

 (Soundbite) Professor Kuo Yujen – INPR researcher:

“Annexing Taiwan by military force is a cost too high for China to pay. Even the top leaders of China would not want such a thing to happen. This is why China is also planning on peacefully annexing Taiwan. The cheapest approach is to develop spy activities. This is why we call hybrid warfare. Hybrid warfare includes three components. The first is cognitive warfare. The second is psychological warfare. The third is information warfare.”

 (Soundbite) Lieutenant General Chang Yen-ting, former Air Force Deputy Commander:

“‘The Art of War’ of Sun Tzu also mentions the use of spies. China’s cognitive war on Taiwan is about the use of spies on the island. This also has many effects on its psychological war here.”

 (Soundbite) Professor Kuo Yujen – INPR researcher:

“Military spies are most well-known. This is because of the anti-infiltration system within the armed forces. But military spies are not even among the most harmful to Taiwan. As far as I know, at the beginning of 2020, when the pandemic broke out, the rest of the world started to realize how much Taiwan’s high-tech, semi-conductors are so important. I have been receiving warnings and reminders that the situation of China’s commercial and technological spies in Taiwan is very serious.”

 (Soundbite) Professor Kuo Yujen – INPR researcher:

“Chinese (high-tech) company’s department directors would enter Taiwan as a tourist. They would get to know Taiwanese high-tech companies’ directors or key persons via other friends. And by becoming friends, they would slowly recruit the Taiwanese directors to work for them. Is having friends illegal? Of course not. But this is incremental. So the Taiwanese victim, the high-tech talent, would be working for China without even knowing it.”

(Soundbite) Su Tseng-chang, Taiwan Premier:

“We have witnessed all kinds of infiltrations around the world by the Chinese ‘red supply chain’, especially in our country. The Chinese are poaching talents from every of Taiwan’s industries they have infiltrated to steal the nation’s key technologies. This is harmful to our country’s information security, economic interests, industries’ competitiveness, and national security. In the aim to respond to the society’s expectations, protect the high-tech industry, prevent the leak of key technologies, we find it necessary to build up an even tighter and more complete national security defense line.”

(Soundbite) Lieutenant General Chang Yen-ting, former Air Force Deputy Commander:

“Once retired, these military officers are like losing contact (with the defense ministry). If there could be some activities for these retired officers, such as forums, or there could be a think tank to include them (in academic activities) so that they research cross-strait military issues, intelligence and operation analysis, or even logistics, it would be a right thing to do. Because these retired officers still have to contribute, as they are still young and have experience. They still have very high added value that is useful. But nothing has been done yet. On the contrary, China has lots of such activities, and Taiwan has few of these. This makes it easy for them (Taiwanese retired officers) to be recruited.”

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