Islam Times - US Uses Taiwanese Separatists to Target Chinese Mainland: Newspaper

Islam Times - Taiwanese separatists use hacker groups to discredit China with US support, the Chinese newspaper Global Times said on Tuesday.

The newspaper stated that the cybersecurity environment analysis center under the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command of Taiwan's "defense department" closely cooperates with the US, TASS reported.

The center is also responsible for conducting "cyber cognitive warfare and public opinion warfare against the mainland." Meanwhile, Taiwanese separatist forces have enlisted hacker groups such as "Anonymous 64" to discredit China.

Sheng Jiuyuan, director of the Center for Taiwan Studies at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, told Global Times that "such a collaboration is not only military in nature, but also reflects the increasingly close strategic partnership between the US and Taiwan's authority."

Taiwan's "defense department" had previously signed a $63.5 million contract with the American Institute in Taiwan for an "information and communication system enhancement preliminary planning" project. The Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command has also actively participated in "cyber war" themed competitions that the US holds, Global Times noted.

Taiwan has been governed by its local administration since 1949, when the remaining Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) fled to the island after suffering a defeat in China’s civil war. Beijing considers the island to be one of its provinces. The US officially recognizes the One-China principle, but continues provoking China by sending delegations to Taiwan and supplying the island with weapons. Beijing considers Taiwan one of China’s provinces.