China’s Coast Guard regularly harasses Taiwan’s eastern waters. Former U.S. official warns: hybrid warfare is heating up

Randall Schriver, chairman of the U.S. Institute for Indo-Pacific Security (IIPS) and former Assistant Secretary for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs of the U.S. Department of War, pointed out today (20th) that the new challenges posed by China are not only technology, but also operational concepts and hybrid warfare. One of the most worrying developments he has seen in the past few years is the regular patrols of Chinese coast guard ships east of Taiwan. It seems harmless, but it is actually an extension of sovereignty claims, as well as an extension of legal warfare, political warfare and information warfare.

The Mainland Affairs Council, the National Defense Academy and the National Science Council held an international symposium on "Mainland China's Development Trends and Impacts under International Political and Economic Changes" today. In his keynote speech, Xue Ruifu said that these coast guard ships are "white ships", but many of them look like gray warships painted white, but they are indeed performing law enforcement tasks. If China continues to actually exercise law enforcement power in this area, it will be extremely destructive to stability.

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He gave an example, even if it seems to be a harmless approach, if a fisherman is in distress in the waters east of Taiwan, Chinese ships will be the first to come to the rescue. Most people may think this is a humanitarian move, but in fact, China uses this to exercise the sovereign's duty to rescue fishermen in distress and strengthen its claim as a legitimate sovereign in the eyes of the international community.

Xue Ruifu believes that such issues must be included when thinking about the concepts of defense, deterrence and operations. He was happy to see the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) release photos of U.S.-Taiwan maritime patrol cooperation, but the related work must go far beyond that. For example, thinking about how to cooperate with Japan to practice anti-blockade operations to open a corridor from Keelung to Yonaguni Island, not only for combat readiness, but also for deterrence, and to truly implement an operational concept that can respond to China's emerging challenges.

He also pointed out that China has been improving its military power in various fields for a long time. The investment has been transformed into actual capabilities and has begun to be tested through operations, coercion operations and more advanced exercises. Even in the face of economic difficulties, China is still making progress in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum, and biotechnology, and continues to deploy technologies with military applications into the People's Liberation Army and its exercises.

Shirley said that when thinking about future conflicts, including conflicts across the Taiwan Strait, some things will not change. Integrating air defense and missile defense is still extremely important. It requires multi-domain and multi-level defense to counter ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones. Underwater warfare is where the United States has its asymmetric advantage. Taiwan can maintain a very important advantage by cooperating with other countries, and even become a turning point for the defender in such situations.