TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — National Security Council Senior Advisor Lee Yuh-jye (李育杰) appeared at the Concordia Annual Summit in New York on Monday to discuss threats posed by Chinese hacker groups in the segment "Geopolitics, Trade, and Taiwan’s Strategic Role in AI Cooperation."
Lee said US national security experts have repeatedly raised concerns about Chinese hackers. In particular, the threat posed to global communications networks and critical infrastructure, per UDN.
Lee said groups such as Salt Typhoon have eavesdropped on conversations between key US government officials, prompting Washington to issue warnings to various countries. And three weeks ago, the American Institute in Taiwan forwarded information from the FBI offering a US$10 million (NT$302 million) reward for information leading to the investigation of Volt Typhoon.
He said Volt Typhoon is a threat to infrastructure, such as the disruption of European airports a few days ago due to cybersecurity issues. Lee said it's conceivable that China could have planted cybersecurity backdoors in critical infrastructure.
Lee said Taiwan is aware of these threats and has made significant efforts to improve cybersecurity. For example, Taipower, CPC (state-run refiner), and Chunghwa Telecom have also requested enhanced cybersecurity measures to defend against such attacks.
According to Lee, the US and Taiwan have long-standing cooperation in both security and technology. He noted that Taiwan's semiconductor manufacturing has earned the trust of other countries and has become a foundation for cybersecurity efforts.
Regarding national security, Lee said Taiwan is developing an asymmetric strategy to counter Chinese threats. This includes the use of AI and unmanned vehicles such as drones, boats, and submarines. He added that improving cybersecurity through the use of AI also shows promise.
The Concordia Annual Summit coincides with the United Nations General Assembly meeting. Lee used the opportunity to discuss Taiwan's desire to join the organization and revisit UN Resolution 2758, which recognized the People's Republic of China as the sole representative of China, but is used by Beijing to exclude Taiwan from UN bodies.
