Amid concerns over Chinese fifth-column units posing as tourists to gather intelligence and conduct covert operations in Taiwan, a retired army colonel said that the public and the Ministry of National Defense should not over-react because such units would be unlikely to pose any immediate threat, or to be capable of attacking and capturing a military base.

Tseng Miao-hung, who taught at the National Defense University, was responding to a recent report in Defense News by Wu Shang-su, a research fellow in military studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

The article said that most military bases in Taiwan are not well defended and that a Chinese fifth column with only basic firepower could paralyze the command chain and neutralize Taiwans air-defense network, helping pave the way for a Peoples Liberation Army invasion by first taking over Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) and Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.