The "Seminar on New Types of Challenges Facing Taiwan's National Security and Democratic Resilience" was held at the Legislative Yuan today. Scholars from the National Defense University emphasized that the Chinese Communist Party frequently sends coast guard ships to enforce law in the eastern waters of Taiwan and unilaterally treats the Taiwan Strait as an inland sea. We must deter, and we must not be indifferent to this, because in international law, "acquiescence will become a requirement for territorial transfer."
The Law Kemen Legal Promotion Association and the Congressional Office of Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Guanting co-sponsored the "Seminar on New Types of Challenges Facing Taiwan's National Security and Democratic Resilience" at the Legislative Yuan on the 20th, inviting experts and scholars to discuss "the operating model and reflexive strategies of the Chinese Communist Party's legal warfare combined with cognitive warfare" and other topics.
Colonel Li Yanzhang, director and associate professor of the Department of Law at the National Defense University School of Management, said that the CCP will have 20,000 to 30,000 legal talents in 2027. Before they can carry out legal warfare and other tasks, they will first amend the law and use military and public opinion methods to manipulate it internationally. Taiwan has relatively ignored this, and we should strengthen the resilience of democratic defense.
Li Yanzhang pointed out that Taiwan faces three types of threats: hybrid threats, hybrid wars and traditional wars. It has already suffered submarine cables being cut and network hackers being hacked. The CCP most often uses hybrid warfare, which highly combines regular military and non-military means, such as sending warships and scientific research vessels to intrude in the waters east of Taiwan.
Li Yanzhang mentioned that modern armed conflicts will no longer clearly indicate the start of war, but the war has already started before the declaration of war, and it is no longer peaceful. Every day, 5 to 8 Chinese warships appear in the waters around Taiwan.
Li Yanzhang said that starting from 2025 and 2026, China will begin "coordinated law enforcement between the military and the police", frequently sending coast guard ships to enforce law in the waters east of Taiwan, and unilaterally treating the Taiwan Strait as an inland sea. He suggested to high-level officials that we must intimidate, and we must not be unresponsive, because in international law "default will become a requirement for territorial transfer."
Li Yanzhang criticized that the CCP first used the authorization of domestic laws to formulate the "Anti-Secession Law", "Coast Guard Law", "National Unity Law", 22 Articles Punishing Independence, etc., and then relied on the Coast Guard to enforce law, using law enforcement to represent the extension of sovereignty, and normalized gray zone intrusions, using cognitive warfare to brainwash the Chinese and Taiwanese people.
Li Yanzhang analyzed that the CCP's three major strategic intentions towards Taiwan are "dwarfing its status", "legitimizing force" and "blocking foreign aid". By treating Taiwan as a separatist force, the CCP's future armed aggression that attempts to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait can be internally packaged as "pacifying civil strife" and "maintaining national unity."
Li Yanzhang suggested that Taiwan should establish a "preventive legal claims" mechanism and proactively occupy the field of international law discussion, so that the CCP will face extremely high legal legitimacy costs before taking action. We should also build a "multilateral legal cooperation protection network" and promote the issuance of joint legal opinions on the application of UNCLOS with the United States, Japan, Australia and the European Union. In response to Resolution 2758, we systematically developed counterarguments and promoted friendly countries to openly challenge the CCP’s interpretation in the United Nations arena.
He emphasized that cross-domain integration and coordinated military and legal operations are needed. It can be incorporated into national military training, and legal warfare countermeasures can be incorporated into annual military promotion and training courses to ensure that commanders at all levels have legal warfare awareness. Establish a "legal warfare advisor" to intervene at the early stage of major military operations to ensure that each department has legal legitimacy. Legal warfare impact assessment must also be included as a must-check for major national defense decisions.
Hong Puzhao, director of the Global Strategy and Democratic Resilience Research Center at Taipei City University, said that the strategic purpose of China’s legal war is to obtain the right to define order in the Taiwan Strait. Through the combination of domestic regulations and military operations, China attempts to establish an operating model in which it determines, interprets and enforces its own rules.
Hong Puzhao analyzed that China attempts to incorporate Taiwan Strait security into its internal affairs framework and exclude the intervention of the international community. Taiwan should counterattack from both the perspective of legal principles and substantive interests, advocate the freedom of navigation and overflight guaranteed by international maritime law, counter China's unilateral jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait, and at the same time connect the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait with the security and economic interests of all countries.
Hong Puzhao mentioned that China’s military exercises and gray zone operations affect international shipping, regional security and global supply chains, and directly involve the interests of third countries. Taiwan should make good use of congressional diplomacy, transnational parliamentarian networks and think tank cooperation to promote joint statements, congressional resolutions and policy initiatives, and strive for more countries to jointly safeguard peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Luo Chengzong, a professor at the Institute of Science and Technology Law at Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, said that Taiwan lacks a moderate and fair media with absolute credibility like "Ukrainian Pravda", but Taiwan has a Central Epidemic Command Center to refute false information when it comes to epidemic prevention. Therefore, when war comes, there must be a central war situation command center to tell the people correct information, otherwise Taiwan will definitely not be able to withstand it.
Luo Chengzong said that China's gray zone war against Taiwan has already begun. Recently, China's Chinese content farms have released content such as "Ocean Current is showing its power". Taiwan has the eyes to see threats and the psychological resilience to weather the epidemic crisis. The next step can be to internalize Ukraine's legal system of resistance as the cornerstone of our national defense and promote the "Basic Law of National Resistance" with Taiwan's subjectivity.
