HONG KONG, January 12. /TASS/. China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has changed its tactics of pressure on Taiwan on the eve of the upcoming election of the island's chief executive, the head of the center for research on China's politics, armed forces and combat concepts at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, Ou Sifu, has told TASS.

"In the past, the PLA launched missiles and conducted military exercises with the aim to intimidate Taiwanese voters, but such actions were too provocative and have led to negative consequences both in Taiwan and on the international scene," he said. "Missile launches and exercises helped the candidate that Beijing did not like at all to score a decisive victory. These days, the PLA goes about this business in a more sophisticated way: they have employed balloons and satellites," Ou said.

"Before January 11, 2024, China had launched 31 weather balloons as well as 4 satellites across the Taiwan Strait. At the very beginning, these balloons and satellites passed through the airspace outside the island of Taiwan. Then they were sent through the territorial airspace as the election drew near. The balloons were flying at altitudes of 20,000 to 30,000 feet (6 to 9 kilometers) and the satellites, outside the atmosphere, which did not harm anyone," he explained.

"At the same time, this psychological and cognitive warfare was an attempt to influence the election. The effects of this balloon and satellite campaign will be known after voting day. Generally speaking, this is viewed rather in a negative way than in a positive one," he concluded.

The elections of Taiwan's chief executive and members of the Legislative Yuan (the island's highest legislative body) will be held on January 13. Since 2016, the post of Taiwan's chief executive has been held by Tsai Ing-wen, of the Democratic Progressive Party. Her second and final term expires in 2024.

The front-runner in the election race is Taiwan's incumbent deputy chief executive and representative of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, Lai Ching-te, who is in the lead in opinion polls. The two opposition candidates are Ko Wen-je, the leader of the centrist Taiwan People's Party, and Hou Yu-ih, of the Kuomintang, which favors a rapprochement with mainland China.

Taiwan’s status

Taiwan has been governed by its own administration since 1949, when remnants of the Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) fled there after being defeated in the Chinese Civil War. Beijing considers Taiwan as one of China’s provinces.