Security experts warn China is cultivating a fifth column for wartime sabotage
China’s growing ambitions to annex Taiwan means its tactics are also broadening. They’re no longer limited to military exercises. Security experts say China is cultivating a fifth column that involves recruiting people from temple associations, gangs and even rank-and-file soldiers. Once war breaks out, these people will no longer hide in the shadows. Instead, they will become saboteurs who will work to undermine Taiwanese society – from attacking power infrastructure to spreading rumors. Let’s find out more.
Xi Jinping
Chinese leader
The motherland must be unified and it will inevitably be unified. This is the historical conclusion drawn from the 70-year development of cross-strait relations and it is also an inevitable requirement for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in the new era.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitions to annex Taiwan are intensifying. His tactics range from military aircraft harassing Taiwan to military exercises surrounding the nation. He’s also actively cultivating a fifth column in Taiwan.
Shen Ming-shih
Institute for National Defense and Security Research
In fact, the CCP is not only just trying to win people over with united front tactics. Ultimately, it hopes that the military will not resist. Its internal agents are organized into armies or bands of guerillas. When military actions begin, they will attack major internal targets. There may also be a small group of people who, at the beginning of the attack, will infiltrate and sabotage, such as destroying power infrastructure or releasing toxins so that it affects the troops’ morale or health. Or they can spread rumors. Broadly speaking, these people can be called a fifth column.
From gangsters to temple associations to junior military officers: all are fifth column recruitment targets.
Ho Cheng-hui
Taiwan National Security Institute
They might even incite disgruntled people or criminals to do these things. Or they could tell you that our military has already collapsed or surrendered, conveying that it would be better to surrender than resist.
Even jewelry stores have assisted China to make contact with Taiwanese soldiers, prosecutors say, and have lured them with low-interest loans.
Wang Ting-yu
Lawmaker (DPP)
When you borrow money, NT$5,000, NT$10,000, and accumulate it to a certain amount, he will tell you: It’s OK if you can’t pay it back, we’re all friends. This NT$50,000 sum can be waived. Just get hold of any document from the military to prove you are a soldier. I will tell the financial backers behind me that soldiers are usually short of money, so we can write off your debt of NT$50,000. If you don’t do this, they’ll expose your previous actions and you might have to pay a heavy price. You’ll have no choice but to submit to their demands.
When it comes to the fifth column, the pro-China China Unification Promotion Party is probably the group that is treated with most suspicion in Taiwanese society.
Chang An-le
China Unification Promotion Party
We are not a fifth column. We have made it very clear that we will step forward when the time comes to act as a bridge for peace across the Taiwan Strait, focusing on protecting ordinary citizens. It’s that simple.
Faced with a fifth column colluding with foreign forces, Taiwan’s national security can only be ensured by heightening people’s vigilance and strengthening an anti-infiltration defense network.
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2026-04-10
