Former U.S. Department of Defense Assistant Secretary for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs and current Chairman of the 2049 Project Research Institute Schriver (in the picture and) and Bu Danian (right), a senior researcher at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), held a press conference.

(Photo by reporter Wang Yisong)

[Reporter Lu Yixuan/Taipei Report] Dan Blumenthal, a senior researcher at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), recently visited Taiwan with a delegation.

He said today that Taiwan is actually threatened every day, not by actual military attacks, but by psychological warfare and gray zone operations; Hopeless" and so on, with the purpose of interfering with elections, dividing people's hearts and weakening morale.

Bu Danian emphasized that after returning to the United States, he will send a message in Washington, calling on the United States and Taiwan to strengthen cooperation and deal with these psychological warfare.

Today Bu Danian held a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with Randall G. Schriver, Chairman of the Project 2049 Research Institute.

With regard to the intrusion of the Communist Army around the Taiwan Strait, Xue Ruifu said in response to the question that it is expected that the same situation will continue before Taiwan's 2024 general election.

These activities have a variety of purposes, including political signals, the purpose is to affect the morale of Taiwanese society, and there is no hope for the future; some have military implications, training the PLA, and testing Taiwan's response, and these can be done concurrently.

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Schriver also pointed out that we need to let the PLA understand that these actions come at a price. What the United States can do is to continue to support Taiwan and provide the required guarantees. It can also think about different approaches from the past, such as strengthening military cooperation.

He is not sure what decision the US executive team will make, but believes that such a direction is very good.

The media asked about the delayed delivery of arms by the United States. Was there any discussion during this visit to Taiwan?

Bu Danian replied that he really felt such urgency during his visit to Taiwan. When discussing with President Tsai and his team, he also learned that Taiwan is undergoing many military reforms, including mobilizing citizens for defense and obtaining necessary weapons.

The message he wants to convey this time is that the threats Taiwan is facing every day may not be actual military attacks, but psychological warfare and gray zone operations, with the intention of dividing Taiwan society.

In addition to possible military conflicts, it is also necessary to find ways to deal with such behavior.

Bu Danian gave an example that China's coercion of Taiwan includes conveying many false messages, which Taiwanese people have to face every day, such as "Taiwan is isolated and hopeless" or "The United States is not a reliable ally of Taiwan."

China's attempts to isolate Taiwan and accuse Taiwan's democracy of provocation, but it is well known that China wants to interfere in Taiwan's free and democratic elections.

Bu Danian emphasized that China cannot continue to convey these messages, "We must give hope to the Taiwanese and break China's isolation of Taiwan."

He suggested that the United States and Taiwan should launch a countermeasure campaign together. In addition to military cooperation, it must also include diplomacy, intelligence, and multi-party cooperation to deal with psychological warfare.

When the media asked questions, they mentioned that the Chinese media claimed that the CSIS military push was a meaningless "paper victory", and the purpose was only to sell military weapons to the United States.

Bu Danian and Xue Ruifu refuted this argument on the spot. Bu Danian bluntly said that he was very grateful for giving him the opportunity to refute China's political propaganda.

Bu Danian explained that the U.S. arms sales are based on legal sources and are not arbitrary decisions by the government. The key point is to enable Taiwan to have a defense force. In addition to weapons, personnel training is also very important.

The United States encourages other countries to sell arms to Taiwan, and also affirms Taiwan's national defense independence. "These arms can come from anywhere."