Taiwan pointed the finger at China after two undersea cables between Taiwan and Matsu were found severed. An American think tank chimed in to say this is a gray zone tactic and China was practicing how to cut off Taiwan's internet.
On Feb. 23, the Ministry of National Defense announced 13 Chinese fighters and three warships were spotted around Taiwan. There was also a U.S. Army-outsourced civilian intelligence reconnaissance aircraft and aerial refueling tanker in Taiwan's southwest airspace. Meanwhile, two undersea cables between Taiwan and Matsu were recently found severed and Taiwan blamed a Chinese fishing boat and cargo ship and criticized them for severely affecting the local population. American think tank "American Enterprise Institute" chimed in to say this matter isn't a coincidence and it believes China is using "gray zone tactics" and practicing how to cut off Taiwan's internet.
Sheu Jyh-shyang, Assistant Research Fellow, INDSR: “The public sector, the private sector, and the business sector may have different systems, so they can have this kind of multilayer backup strategy. This is essentially a way for them to strengthen the resilience of their external communication networks. Only by having a multilayer backup strategy will you be able to immediately restore it and maintain basic functions when danger occurs or a situation arises.”
Scholars say Taiwan needs to have the technology to quickly repair undersea cables as well as a multilayer backup plan. It can refer to the experience from the Ukraine-Russia war, where Ukraine is using low earth orbit satellites. Meanwhile, a report by the Australian think tank "Australian Strategic Policy Institute" said China used coercive diplomatic actions against 19 countries between 2020 and 2022. Australia was the number one target with 21 "actions," Lithuania was second with 11, and Taiwan was third with eight. Forty percent of these "actions" were trade restrictions. The report went on to say that China failed in its attempts to coerce Australia and instead made Australia stronger. Scholars say Taiwan can learn a few lessons.
Lin Ying-yu, Asst. Prof., Grad. Inst. of Int'l Affairs & Strategic Studies, TKU: “Cultural or trade-related united front tactics are applied to our country, but it should be noted that China will absolutely not say its united front tactics against our country are diplomacy or wolf warrior diplomacy because to them, cross-Strait relations are definitely not foreign relations.”
Scholars say people are fully aware of China's coercive methods against Taiwan, such as trade restrictions and military threats. What people need to be alert for are fake news, cognitive warfare, and attempts to split Taiwan up from the inside. The government needs some countermeasures and the public can be used for third-party verification.
共軍擾台不間斷，國防部23日發布偵獲共機13架次、共艦3艘次擾台；西南空域還罕見出現美國陸軍外包民用情偵機、空中加油機，美中軍機現蹤台海周邊，引發關注。中國威脅不只如此，台灣跟馬祖的兩條海底電纜，月初疑遭中國漁船和貨輪割斷，嚴重影響當地居民。美國華府智庫「美國企業研究所」認為此事並非巧合，認為中共採取灰色地帶侵略手段，演練切斷對台網路。
國防院助理研究員許智翔說：「公部門、私部門、商業部門，可能有不同的系統，可以有這種多層次的備援手段，那這個本身就是去強化他對外通訊網路韌性的一種方式。那只有說你有多層次的備援手段，才能夠在危害發生的時候，可以立刻修復；或是在狀況發生的時候，你還能夠維持基本的能力。」
許智翔指出，台灣不只要具備快速修復海底電纜的技術，還需要多層次的備援方案。可參考俄烏戰爭中，烏克蘭使用的低軌衛星。至於澳洲智庫「澳洲戰略政策研究所」報告指出，中國2020至2022年，對19個國家進行脅迫外交行動，鎖定頭號對象是澳洲21起、立陶宛11起次之，台灣位居第3，有8起。這些行為有40%是貿易限制。不過，中共脅迫澳洲失敗，反而凸顯澳洲韌性。學者認為，台灣可做為借鏡。
淡大國際事務與戰略研究所助教林穎佑說明：「因為對我國的話，我們不用說是在做一些文化也好，或者是經貿上面的統戰，這些的應用基本上都會套用在我國。但是要去注意的是，中國對我國的統戰，中國絕對不會說是外交或是戰狼外交。因為對他們來講的話，兩岸關係絕對不是外交關係。」
林穎佑表示，中共對台祭出經貿、軍事等脅迫手段，國人早有警覺，最該防範的是假訊息、認知作戰，從內部分化台灣民心。除了政府要有對策，也可結合民間第3方認證，辨別錯假訊息，強化心防。