Wu Shang-su, a research fellow from the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies of Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, writing in Defense News on February 9, 2015, said that tourists from mainland China can be used as "fifth column" to support military operations launched against Taiwan by the People's Liberation Army. He said Taiwan's increasingly open policies have opened more channels for mainland Chinese tourists to visit the island for tourism, education, employment and commerce and that more than 3 million tourists from mainland China had visited Taiwan last year. Mentioning that just 1% of this number is equivalent to two divisions of PLA ground forces, he said the tourists provide the PLA a great opportunity to deploy "undercover" troops to the island prior to an invasion and will create strategic and tactical surprises since those "forward deployed" units would attack in the guise of non-combatants.
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