China is stepping up its military and cyber activities near Taiwan, raising alarms over potential surprise attacks and escalating “hybrid warfare” tactics aimed at undermining trust in the island’s democratic government, Taiwan’s defence ministry said Thursday.
The biennial report warns that Beijing is honing its ability to launch a sudden assault while simultaneously waging psychological and online campaigns to destabilize Taiwan. Over the past five years, China has conducted at least seven rounds of large-scale war games around the island, using military drills to test its readiness for combat.
According to the report, China’s military has increasingly integrated artificial intelligence tools into its cyber operations, targeting Taiwan’s critical infrastructure and exploiting vulnerabilities in national security networks. Beijing’s “professional cyber army” manipulates social media and floods platforms with misinformation to erode public confidence in government institutions and weaken support for defence spending.
China is also accused of deploying deepfake videos and AI-generated political content to polarize society, while leveraging state media and local collaborators to diminish morale and the public’s will to resist. These hybrid warfare strategies combine psychological pressure with “grey zone” tactics, including aggressive coast guard patrols and non-combat operations designed to exhaust Taiwan’s defences.
The ministry cautioned that China could transform military exercises into real combat with little warning, posing a severe risk to regional stability. It also noted China’s growing use of civilian roll-on/roll-off merchant vessels for military logistics and amphibious operations, signaling preparations for potential conflict.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, labelled a “separatist” by Beijing, maintains that only Taiwan’s citizens can determine their future. In response to China’s aggression, Taiwan plans to allocate 5% of its GDP to defence modernization by 2030.