US lawmakers warn of China’s ‘cognitive war’ after Taiwan visit

TWO US lawmakers just back from visits to Taiwan said the island’s government is bolstering its defences against cyberattacks and disinformation, and called on US technology companies to better confront China’s online offensives.

Republican Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin and Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, recently returned from separate but overlapping trips to Taiwan, the latest in a procession of US lawmakers to go there. 

Gallagher praised Taiwan’s resolve in strengthening its military, as well as its defences against what Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has described as “cognitive warfare” in the form of online attacks and disinformation meant to undermine democracy.

“The invasion has already begun in the cognitive space,” Gallagher said. 

Khanna cited Meta Platforms’ Facebook and WhatsApp, as well as Alphabet’s YouTube, headquartered in or near his Silicon Valley district, as companies that have to figure out how to address China’s online offensives.

Both lawmakers said the Taiwanese officials they spoke with described Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a wake-up call on the risks posed by an aggressive neighbour with an entwined history. Even as the US is supporting Ukraine’s military, Gallagher said there’s a backlog of equipment and resources promised to Taiwan.

Gallagher, who chairs the House’s new select committee on China, said US lawmakers must communicate to the American people why Taiwan is important – both as “a beacon of freedom and democracy” and an important economic partner, especially in semiconductor manufacturing. 

In a statement on Wednesday, he said came back to the US “even more convinced that the time to arm Taiwan to the teeth was yesterday.”

Khanna said the Taiwanese officials and business leaders he met with supported US efforts to limit the export of advanced semiconductors to China, and people from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing said they’re taking “extraordinary measures to comply.”

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China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has repeatedly said it is willing to use force to prevent its formal independence. While China objects to all visits by foreign lawmakers that could appear to legitimize Taiwan’s government, Beijing has generally tolerated trips by rank-and-file US lawmakers.

That wasn’t its reaction to an August 2022 visit by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. China protested her trip, conducted unprecedented military drills and severed some military contacts in response. BLOOMBERG