方恩格快評》認知戰還是駭客攻擊？

「臺北駐汶萊經濟文化辦事處」的推特帳號被駭了，引發臺灣的國家安全再被質疑。(圖/網路截圖)

最近在推特上搜索臺灣新聞時，我的推特上出現了「臺北駐汶萊經濟文化辦事處」的推特帳號。不知爲何，頭像是瑞波幣支付系統的標誌，加上外交部推文的轉推，是關於電子加密貨幣的推文。

該帳戶有一個藍色複選標記，儘管 Twitter 的藍色複選標記系統在 Elon Musk 接管公司後出現了問題。

不管實際情況如何，從公開的推文來看至少持續10天以上，筆者不禁懷疑，這是否可以算作臺灣國家安全與對外關係部門的最新安保失誤。

「臺北駐汶萊經濟文化辦事處」的推特帳號被駭了，引發臺灣的國家安全再被質疑。(圖/網路截圖)

今年早些時候，國安局局長陳明通訪問泰國的細節被泄露，包括他在曼谷機場出入境櫃檯拍攝的照片，以及他在曼谷酒店的費用發票。而國防部政戰局長簡士偉夏威夷之行的飲食購物細節也被泄露。近日，一名軍官因收受中國大陸賄賂被檢察官起訴後，國防部政戰局受到批評，因爲發現此案的是檢察官，而不是政戰局。

這是繼近年來的其他事件之後發生的一些國安事件。蔡英文總統的特勤成員在陪同總統出國時走私香菸到臺灣。據稱，一名前國防部軍事情報局局長幫助一位朋友的女兒通過了該局的入學考試。去年12月，尼加拉瓜與中華民國斷交後，駐尼加拉瓜大使未能返回臺灣，卻被發現已成爲尼加拉瓜公民。

這些事件通常都被遺忘，因爲在立法院佔多數的民進黨立委沒有意願進一步追究這些問題，而中國國民黨立委往往更喜歡通過記者招待會和橫幅標語批評中央政府，而不是進行實質性調查。

民進黨在最近的地方選舉中一個失敗的策略就是與中國有關。這包括頻繁使用「抗中保臺」的口號或聲稱地方選舉將向世界發出信息，包括在民進黨視頻中使用蔡總統與美國衆議院議長裴洛西的照片。

在 2018 年中國國民黨表現出色而民進黨表現不佳的地方選舉之後，許多人聲稱這是因爲中國的認知戰，儘管證據薄弱。似乎，臺灣內外的某些人會再次提出這樣的說法，以解釋國民黨爲何在2022年的地方選舉中再次取得佳績。爲了宣揚他們敗在中國的認知戰，訪問臺灣的外國記者和學者會收到關於臺灣如何打好認知戰的介紹，即使外國人沒有意識到他們正在被利用，作爲「出口轉內銷」的政治消費策略。

事實上，中國因素或民主的口號，並不能代替維護臺灣國家安全的必要工作。地方選舉已經結束，但2024年1月將舉行總統和立法委員選舉。希望臺灣領導人能夠將國家安全置於政治之上。

我們今天打電話給外交部，詢問他們是否知道汶萊推特帳號中臺北經濟文化辦事處的情況。他們的回答是，駐汶萊辦事處推特的帳號遭侵入竄改，也就是被駭了。（作者爲美國共和黨前亞洲區主席）

Cognitive Warfare or Simply Hacked?

By Ross Darrell Feingold

Former Asia Chairman, Republicans Abroad

Twitter: @RossFeingold

While searching Twitter for news about Taiwan recently, the Twitter account of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Brunei Darussalam appeared in my Twitter feed. For reasons unknown, the profile photo is the logo of the Ripple payment system, and, mixed with re-tweets of Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweets, are tweets about cryptocurrency.

The account has a blue check mark, though Twitter’s blue check mark system has had its problems after Elon Musk took over the company.

Whatever the actual situation is, for it to continue at least ten days based on the publicly available tweets, makes this author wonder whether it can be included among the latest security failure at the agencies responsible for Taiwan’s national security and foreign relations.

At the National Security Bureau, earlier this year details of a trip taken by Director General Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) to Thailand were leaked, including his photo taken at the Bangkok airport immigration counter and the invoice of charges he incurred at his hotel in Bangkok. At the Ministry of National Defense Political Warfare Bureau, there was also a leak of eating and shopping details of Director Chien Shih-wei’s (簡士偉) trip to Hawaii. Recently, after a military officer was indicted by prosecutors for receiving bribes from China, the Ministry of National Defense Political Warfare Bureau was criticized because prosecutors, rather than the Political Warfare Bureau, discovered the case.

This follows other incidents in recent years. Members of President Tsai Ing-wen’s protection detail cigarette smuggled cigarettes in to Taiwan, when accompanying the president on overseas trips. A former Ministry of National Defense Military Intelligence Bureau director allegedly helped a friend’s daughter pass the bureau’s entrance exam. Last December after Nicaragua derecognized the Republic of China, the ambassador to Nicaragua failed to return to Taiwan and it was discovered he had become a Nicaragua citizen.

Usually these incidents are forgotten, as the Democratic Progressive Party majority in the Legislative Yuan shows limited willingness to pursue these matters further, and Chinese Nationalist Party legislators often prefer to criticize the central government via press conferences and banners, rather than conduct substantive investigations.

A failed strategy for the Democratic Progressive Party in the recent local election was to make the election about China. This included frequent use of the slogan Oppose China, Save Taiwan or claims that a local election would send message to the world (including the use of photos of President Tsai with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Democratic Progressive Party videos). After the 2018 local election in which the Chinese Nationalist Party did well and the Democratic Progress Party did poorly, many claimed it was because of China’s cognitive warfare though often based on weak evidence. It is also likely that such claims will be made again by certain persons both inside and outside Taiwan to explain why the Chinese Nationalist Party did well again in the 2022 local election. As part of such efforts, foreign journalists and scholars who visit Taiwan receive presentations about how well Taiwan fights cognitive warfare, even if the foreigners don’t realize they are being used as part of a “If First Sold Overseas, Can Then Re-Sell in Taiwan” (出口轉內銷) strategy for domestic political consumption.

The reality is slogans about China or democracy are not a substitute for the necessary work to safeguard Taiwan’s national security. The local election is over, but the presidential and Legislative Yuan election is in January 2024. Let’s hope Taiwan’s leaders can prioritize national security over politics.

We called the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ask them if they are aware of what is going on with the Taipei Economic Cultural Office in Brunei’s Twitter account, and after several hours, the ministry confirmed that the account was hacked.

※以上言論不代表旺中媒體集團立場※