Taiwan accused China of "increasingly" using generative artificial intelligence (AI) to fuel disinformation efforts to sow division on the island country, a report from Taipei's National Security Bureau said Tuesday.
The report, submitted to Taiwan's legislature, details how Beijing is allegedly intensifying influence operations alongside "military pressure and economic coercion," the Taipei-based Central News Agency reported.
The report accused the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of approaching and recruiting active and retired Taiwanese military personnel through the internet with espionage, "enticing them with payments, and targeting indebted service members."
"The CCP has been working in collaboration with criminal gangs, shell companies, moneylenders, temples, and civic groups to approach entry-level military personnel with money problems, which shows that it does not only target ranking officers," the report alleged.
Taiwanese prosecutors have indicted 159 people suspected of spying for China since 2020, 60% of them active-duty or retired military personnel.
The bureau said it would work more closely with national security apparatuses in researching Chinese infiltration tactics and safeguarding against potential national security risks.
Defense Minister Wellington Koo also said Tuesday that one of the measures to improve intelligence security in the military is to step up personnel background checks before individuals are granted access to classified intelligence, regardless of rank.
"CCP spies are indeed everywhere, and they will exhaust all options to get intelligence," said Koo.
He said 87% of espionage cases involving military personnel were reported by active-duty service members.
China considers Taiwan its "breakaway" province, seeking reunification of the island country, which insists on its independence.
