[Cross-Strait] National Security Bureau Establishes Contact Window for Chinese Citizens; Scholars: Deterrence Under Hostile Coexistence

Regarding the National Security Bureau's announcement yesterday (14th) to establish a "Contact Window for Chinese Citizens," scholars from both sides of the Taiwan Strait hold divergent views. Chinese scholars claim it is to "fortify the people's national security defense line" to prevent all forms of subversion from having anywhere to hide; Taiwanese scholars believe that the two sides are in a state of "hostile coexistence," which is a common intelligence practice globally and serves as a form of deterrence. The National Security Bureau stated yesterday that to broadly collect intelligence on China's politics, military, economy, and other areas, it has established a "Contact Window for Chinese Citizens," referencing the practices of intelligence agencies in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Israel. Chinese citizens entering the webpage will be categorized as being within the territory or overseas and will complete contact registration according to 6 security guidelines. Prior to this, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) released videos in January and February of this year soliciting intelligence, targeting Chinese officials and military personnel respectively. Tsai Chi-ting, Director of the Center for Chinese Mainland Studies at National Taiwan University, stated today (15th) regarding the establishment of the "Contact Window for Chinese Citizens" that this is a common global intelligence practice. Although the government's considerations are not yet known, such public methods are common in intelligence work and serve to exert deterrence and information disruption to some extent, making the other party hesitant when making decisions due to concerns about intelligence being provided, thus increasing decision-making costs. Hong Yao-nan, Director of the Cross-Strait Relations Research Center at Tamkang University, believes that the two sides are currently in a state of "hostile coexistence," where they are hostile in politics and military affairs but coexist in civilian life. Both Taiwan and Beijing are very clear about this boundary. He also noted that mainland China has websites for reporting "Taiwan independence," which is a similar concept. The CCP's official media, Global Times, reported today that Zhu Songling, Director of the Institute of Political Science at Beijing Union University and Professor at the Taiwan Research Institute, claimed this is an "intelligence infiltration operation." He stated that mainland citizens need to firmly establish the "overall national security concept" and fortify the "people's national security defense line" to prevent all forms of infiltration, subversion, and sabotage from having anywhere to hide. (Editor: Shen Chen-chiang)