What Would Taiwan's organized criminal Gangs Do During a Possible PRC Invasion?

Criminal gangs in Taiwan are suspected to be a 5th column of the Communist Party of China.

The members of these criminal gangs would be immediately arrested if a an invasion by China should succeed.

"As the topic of Taiwan’s organized crime and the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP, 中國共產黨) united front influence on the island has garnered international attention, analysts have posed an alarming question: “What would Taiwan’s gangs do if China invades the island?”

Long-standing resentment in Taiwan towards the pervasiveness of gangs has fueled speculation that these groups might act as a “fifth column,” aiding the CCP’s invading forces by sabotaging critical infrastructure or sowing widespread panic. The concerns are backed by prominent revelations regarding some Taiwanese crime bosses’ collaboration with People’s Republic of China (PRC) espionage operations. In March 2025, Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) publicly highlighted the role of Taiwan’s gangs in the CCP’s interference campaigns on the island. Months before Lai’s speech, Taiwan’s National Security Bureau (NSB, 國家安全局), its intelligence service, had released a report specifically describing how Taiwan’s organized crime groups (among other actors) facilitate CCP espionage operations and even fifth column recruitment. Fears were compounded in May of this year, when the news site Mirror Daily (鏡報) broke the story that the NSB had come into possession of a PRC intelligence document that allegedly mapped every major gang in Taiwan, covering the gangs’ sizes, leaders, criminal enterprises, and supposed willingness to cooperate with the CCP.  ..."

What Would Taiwan's Gangs Do During a Possible PRC Invasion? | Global Taiwan Institute