Latest news with #TaiwanDefenseMinistry
CNA
12 hours ago
- Politics
- CNA
Taiwan accuses China of carrying out 'provocative' military patrol near island
TAIPEI: Taiwan accused China on Friday (Jun 6) of raising tensions in the region with a "provocative" military patrol involving warplanes and warships near the island, an unusual public rebuke in what are typically routine accounts of Chinese military activity. Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has complained of repeated Chinese military drills and patrols nearby. Since President Lai Ching-te took office last year, China has held three major rounds of war games. Taiwan's defence ministry said that starting mid-afternoon Friday, it had detected 21 Chinese military aircraft, including J-16 fighters, operating with warships to carry out "so-called joint combat readiness patrols" and "harass the airspace and seas around us". "The Ministry of National Defence stresses that these acts are highly provocative, fail to pay proper attention to the maritime rights of other countries, bring anxiety and threat to the region, and blatantly undermine the status quo in the region," it said. Taiwan regularly reports such Chinese "combat patrols", but does not generally attach such commentary to its statements. COAST GUARD DRILLS The patrol came one day after Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump spoke by telephone, with Xi telling Trump that the United States must "handle the Taiwan question with prudence". This is "so that the fringe separatists bent on 'Taiwan independence' will not be able to drag China and America into the dangerous terrain of confrontation and even conflict", Xi said, according to a Chinese government read-out of the call. China regularly calls Taiwan its most important and sensitive issue in relations with the United States, which is bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself. China says democratically governed Taiwan is its "sacred territory" - a position the government in Taipei strongly rejects - and that it has a right to carry out drills in Chinese territory. Lai, who last month marked a year in office, is hated by Beijing, which calls him a separatist and has rebuffed his repeated offers for talks. Lai says only Taiwan's people can decide their future, and that the government is determined to ramp up defence spending and strengthen its military. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. On Sunday, Lai will attend drills in the southern city of Kaohsiung for Taiwan's coast guard, whose ships would be pressed into service in combat roles in the event of war with China.
NHK
2 days ago
- Politics
- NHK
China puts 20 suspects on wanted list for cyberattacks with alleged Taiwan link
Police in China have put 20 individuals on a wanted list for their alleged involvement in cyberattacks purportedly orchestrated by a Taiwanese military unit set up with the support of the United States. Police in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou released on Thursday the names and photos of 20 suspects who were allegedly involved in cyberattacks on corporate targets. They are offering a reward of 10,000 yuan, or around 1,400 US dollars, for information leading to each suspect's arrest. The Xinhua news agency says the Taiwanese military unit that allegedly orchestrated the cyberattacks was set up with the support of the US military. The news agency says the unit was also found to have been conducting public opinion warfare in cooperation with anti-China forces in the US. Taiwan's defense ministry has denounced the accusations as totally baseless, stating that the unit in question is primarily tasked with safeguarding national defense information and maintaining network security. China views the Taiwanese government of President Lai Ching-te as pro-independence, and has been intensifying pressure by repeatedly conducting military drills around Taiwan. In April, Lai said that last year, Taiwanese government agencies experienced an average of 2.4 million cyberattacks a day, double the number for the previous year. Lai said the majority of the attacks came from mainland China.
CNA
2 days ago
- Politics
- CNA
China offers cash rewards for hackers it says are Taiwanese military
BEIJING: Authorities in southern China announced on Thursday (Jun 5) they were offering rewards of more than US$1,000 for the arrest of 20 people they say are Taiwanese military hackers, drawing an angry reaction from Taiwan's defence ministry. The public security bureau in the Chinese city of Guangzhou said the hackers were part of the Taiwan military's Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command, and published their pictures, names and Taiwan identity card numbers. Rewards of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392.25) will be offered to those who provide clues or cooperate in their arrest, it said in a statement carried by Chinese state media. The hackers were involved in organising, planning and premeditating attacks on key sectors such as military, aerospace, government departments, energy and transportation, maritime affairs, science and technology research firms in China as well as Hong Kong and Macau, Xinhua news agency said. Xinhua, citing a cybersecurity report, said the Taiwan "information, communication and digital army" has cooperated with US anti-Chinese forces to conduct public opinion and cognitive warfare against China, secretly instigate revolution and attempt to disrupt public order in China. Taiwan's defence ministry said in a statement it was not carrying out any "corporate cyber attacks", and that China's offers of a bounty highlighted "the rude and unreasonable attitude of the Chinese communists in intimidating and coercing the Taiwanese people". "Recent statements by the European Union, the United States and the Czech Republic condemning the Chinese communists' hacking organisations for carrying out cyber-attacks prove that the Chinese communists are not only a regional troublemaker, but a common threat to the global internet," it added. A senior Taiwan security official told Reuters that the Chinese allegations were invented, saying Beijing was trying to shift the focus from Czech and European scrutiny over alleged Chinese hacking activities there. "They fabricated a false narrative to shift the focus. It's a very typical behaviour by the Chinese Communist Party," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter. China also said Taiwan had longstanding cooperation with the US National Security Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency and other intelligence agencies for the United States' "Asia-Pacific Strategy", calling it Taiwan's attempt to gain independence through relying on the United States. "The US intelligence department has long provided personnel training and technical equipment support for Taiwan's 'information, communication and digital army', and many police stations have sent 'hunting' teams to Taiwan, to launch a cyber attacks on China," according to a social media post by an account linked to Chinese state television. Last week authorities in Guangzhou, the capital of the southern Guangdong province, attributed a cyberattack on an unnamed technology company to the Taiwan government, saying Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party supported the "overseas hacker organisation" responsible. In response, Taiwan said Beijing was peddling false information, and that it was China that was carrying out hacking against the island. China views Taiwan as its own territory. Taiwan's democratically elected government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims. Chinese courts and legal bodies have no jurisdiction in separately governed Taiwan, whose government has repeatedly complained about Beijing's "long armed jurisdiction" efforts.
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
China Offers $1,400 Bounty for Arrests of Taiwan Cyberwarriors
China placed a bounty on cyberwarriors working for Taiwan's Defense Ministry, extending its campaign to squeeze President Lai Ching-te. Police in the southern city of Guangzhou are seeking the arrest of 20 people working for Taiwan's Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command, the official Xinhua News Agency said on Thursday.
South China Morning Post
15-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Taiwan sees spike in PLA military activity as island stages defence drills
Taiwan has reported an increase in activity by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) near the self-ruled island over the past five days, as its own military conducted a series of live-fire drills to test its amphibious defences. The island's defence ministry on Thursday reported 29 aircraft and nine vessels operating near the island in the 24 hours from 6am Wednesday. A total of 18 aircraft crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait between Taiwan and mainland China, patrolling on the northern and southwestern side of the island, it said. It was the fourth consecutive day that the ministry reported around 30 military aircraft near the island. Over the past three months, it has reported 12 days with more than 30 aircraft near the island. The number brings the five-day total to 161 sorties detected near the island. Taiwan said the PLA conducted a 'joint combat readiness patrol' on Sunday, which involved 30 aircraft, including J-16 advanced fighters, KJ-500 airborne early warning aircraft, and drones. The PLA, however, has made no mention of any operation.
