TAIPEI, Taiwan—China is increasing espionage against Taiwan, while ramping up disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks that intend to interfere with next month’s local elections, according to Taiwan’s top intelligence agency.
In a report submitted to parliament this week, Taiwan’s National Security Bureau detailed the security threats facing Taiwan.
The submission came ahead of a legislative hearing on Oct. 22, at which the bureau’s chief, Tsai Ming-yen, is scheduled to appear before the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
China has used intelligence operatives and online networks to infiltrate Taiwan’s military and government agencies, the bureau said.
As a result, the number of individuals indicted for espionage jumped to 73 in the first 10 months of this year, up from 47 in 2025 and six in 2020, according to the report.
Courts are also handing down harsher penalties, with average sentences rising from 12 months in 2020 to 78 months in 2026.
One recent espionage case came to light on Oct. 19, when the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office indicted three retired servicemen and one active-duty serviceman for allegedly leaking classified military information, in violation of several Taiwanese laws including the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces and the National Security Act.
Prosecutors accused one of the retired servicemen of accepting NT$884,000 ($27,000) in return for being a spy.
In another espionage case, six retired and active-duty military personnel were sentenced to between 54 months and 102 months in April, according to Taiwan’s national media Central News Agency.
The report also detailed Beijing’s transnational repression campaigns, accusing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of directing people overseas and collaborators in Taiwan to surveil and follow targeted Taiwanese citizens to obtain private information for use as leverage.
It added that the campaign also involved sending threatening emails under the guise of anti-China activists to smear targets, as well as staging car accidents, instigating physical altercations, and splashing paint.
Such acts of violence and intimidation are intended to instill fear and create a broader chilling effect, it said.
One notable case involved Japanese journalist Akio Yaita, a prominent critic of the CCP, who was assaulted in Taiwan’s central city of Taichung by an attacker from Hong Kong in July.
On Oct. 6, the Taichung District Prosecutors Office announced that the attacker had been indicted, identifying him as a member of a Hong Kong-based gang.
Four other suspects, all members of another Hong Kong gang, were placed on a wanted list as they had fled Taiwan.
Prosecutors in Taichung said the defendants sought to use the attack on Yaita to “make an example” of him, deterring others from expressing certain views for fear of being targeted by foreign forces.
In essence, the case was an “attempt to use violence to suppress free speech,” undermining Taiwan’s democratic system and social order, prosecutors added.
China’s cyberattacks against Taiwan’s Government Service Network averaged 2.58 million per day in the first nine months of this year, the report said, with the total for July alone exceeding 180 million.
The bureau said it could not rule out that Beijing was using these cyber activities to prepare for intelligence gathering and interference in Taiwan’s local elections in November.
Taiwan will hold local elections on Nov. 28, with voters set to elect officials to more than 11,000 posts.
The most closely watched races are the mayoral and city council elections in the six special municipalities: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung.
Alongside the cyber operations, Beijing is also escalating its information warfare in an apparent bid to sway the November elections.
The bureau found that China had spread more than 2.5 million pieces of disputed or false online information in the first nine months of this year.
The number was an increase from 1.69 million during the same period in 2025.
The information was distributed mostly through Facebook, followed by online forums and Threads, according to the report.
The disinformation campaigns have primarily targeted Taiwan’s energy, food safety, and national defense policies, while also hyping up issues surrounding certain candidates’ policy platforms, personal images, and local infrastructure developments, according to the report.
Beijing is also expanding its use of artificial intelligence, including AI-generated videos, to conduct “information manipulation” aimed at influencing “voter preferences and election results,” the bureau said.
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