TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taipei District Court Judge Hsu Kai-chieh (許凱傑) briefed the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China about Beijing’s infiltration tactics in Taiwan, reports said Friday.

Hsu, a judge on the court’s national security section, presented his analysis during a closed-door session Thursday. An estimated 20 congressional aides attended the event, per CNA.

Hsu told reporters he had described how China was trying to legitimize military action against Taiwan and how it was using a range of methods to infiltrate the nation. Anyone could become a target for Chinese infiltration, from members of the elite to ordinary citizens, from senior military officers to soldiers, he said.

China was setting up organizations in Taiwan and trying to divide the public while collecting military and technological secrets, and interfering in elections, Hsu said. Some Taiwanese officers had signed documents promising to surrender in the event of war as a joke, but their signatures could later be used against them for blackmail, according to the judge.

Beijing was influencing alumni associations, inviting neighborhood leaders on trips to China, and infiltrating political parties, Hsu said. In the business world, China was using companies with Chinese investors and sending agents to work for high-tech enterprises and steal their secrets.

Beijing’s “gray zone” tactics included the use of civilian ships to damage or destroy undersea cables. Hsu called for more international cooperation to share information about the actions and whereabouts of the ships, as he predicted their actions would increase in frequency.

The judge called for Taiwan-US cooperation on anti-espionage training to reduce the number of spying cases. In 2022, Taiwan indicted 28 people with infiltration-related charges, but that number had increased to 168 in 2024.