Tsai Warns of China's 'Grey Zone' Pressure on Taiwan — SkimNews
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- Tsai Ing-wen told a Stanford University defense forum on Wednesday that China exerts "sustained" pressure on Taiwan through "grey zone" activities including daily cyberattacks, cognitive warfare, information manipulation, economic coercion, and attempts to compromise critical infrastructure.
- Tsai described Taiwan's security challenge as "particularly immediate," noting that Chinese military aircraft and vessels operate around the island on a regular basis while coast guard and other activities have become increasingly common around Taiwan's waters.
- Tsai's Stanford speech, her first US trip since leaving office two years ago, argued that deeper US-Taiwan cooperation strengthens Indo-Pacific stability given Taiwan's deep integration into global technology and manufacturing networks.
- Tsai's successor, Lai Ching-te, has yet to visit the United States under President Donald Trump's second administration, and China has refused to speak to either leader — both of whom reject Beijing's sovereignty claims.
- China's embassy in Washington reiterated this week that it "firmly opposes official interactions of any form between China's Taiwan region and the US," and Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.
Why it matters: Tsai framed China's campaign as one designed to alter Taiwan's security environment while avoiding open confrontation, and warned that any serious disruption in the Taiwan Strait would ripple through global technology and manufacturing supply chains. With successor Lai yet to visit the US under Trump, the speech puts Taiwan's de facto US backing under a live diplomatic test from the second administration.
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