Israel’s sweeping intelligence operations against Iran have jolted Taiwan’s security community, raising concerns that Beijing could adopt similar tactics to cripple the island’s leadership or critical infrastructure.
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As assassinations and sabotage rattle Tehran, analysts in Taipei warn that Beijing’s infiltration of Taiwan is no longer a purely political threat, and it might be laying the groundwork for high-stakes covert warfare.
In recent months, Taiwan has seen a surge in espionage cases implicating not only retired and active-duty military personnel, but also aides to senior government officials and lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
The breadth and depth of these cases have sparked concerns that Beijing’s intelligence network has already penetrated the island’s political and defence systems.
“What Israel has done to Iran – through a combination of precision, infiltration, and intelligence dominance – is something Beijing could try to replicate,” said Max Lo, executive director of the Taiwan International Strategic Study Society. “The difference is, this time Taiwan may be the one under the microscope.”
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According to experts, Taiwan’s vulnerabilities lie not only in its geographic proximity to mainland China but also in decades of cross-strait social and cultural exchange, which have enabled mainland Chinese intelligence operatives to blend in and recruit more easily.