Ex-intel chief calls on U.S. to help Taiwan upgrade classified clearance system

Washington, July 23 (CNA) A former U.S. naval intelligence chief on Wednesday called on Washington to help Taiwan upgrade its classified clearance system amid growing threats from China.

"Taiwan wouldn't survive if it only focused on an outside-in strategy of hardening its outer shell with military forces," said Mike Studeman, former commander of the Office of Naval Intelligence and a retired rear admiral.

Speaking at a Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) hearing in Washington, D.C., Studeman said equal effort must also be made to bolster core defenses in order to guard against internal threats.

"Decades of PRC [People's Republic of China] political warfare machinations had created vulnerabilities inside Taiwan that the PRC wouldn't hesitate to exploit during an attempted takeover," he explained.

During his briefing presented to members of the commission, the former intelligence officer warned that the Chinese Communist Party's political warfare efforts are relentless, pervasive and all encompassing.

"The aim of CCP political warfare is to isolate Taiwan internationally, weaken domestic support for either de jure or de facto independence, and soften the Taiwanese people's resistance to annexation," he said.

Beijing's political warfare efforts are highly orchestrated and involve a multitiered set of activities including propaganda, military maneuvers, maritime encroachments, funding and manipulation of political parties, espionage and sabotage, Studeman explained.

While there, he proposed a number of ideas that the United States could assist Taiwan in dealing with these clear and present dangers, such as helping Taiwan to strategically reduce its international isolation.

"Further, encouraging Taiwan to spend more of its GDP on defense, while giving due regard to their political and industrial realities, developing deeper Taiwan and U.S. cooperation on cybersecurity, and helping Taiwan upgrade its classified clearance system and adopt more advanced insider threat technologies," Studeman said.

By clearance system, he was referring to the framework for managing and reviewing which individuals are authorized to access sensitive intelligence, such as the security clearance system used in the U.S.

In terms of cybersecurity, Studeman called for the coordination between Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs, the U.S. Cyber Command, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency under the Department of Homeland Security in order to increase resilience of Taiwan's critical infrastructure.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Fan Yun (范雲), who participated in the CECC hearing via videoconferencing, said China has been relentless in its United Front and infiltration efforts toward Taiwan.

The number of espionage cases prosecuted in 2024 was four times higher than in 2021, with targets including the military, legislature, political parties, and civil society groups, Fan said.

Taiwan alone does not have sufficient strength to deter Chinese aggression, and its security is not only vital to regional stability but also critical to the global economy, she said, urging the U.S. to stand together with Taiwan in defending their shared values.

The CECC hearing titled "Stand with Taiwan: Countering the PRC's Political Warfare and Transnational Repression" was also attended by Peter Mattis, president of the Jamestown Foundation, and Audrye Wong, assistant professor of political science and international relations at the University of Southern California.