Taiwan’s defence ministry detected 46 Chinese aircraft and 4 naval vessels in its neighbourhood on Sunday.
The Taiwanese army said that it has responded with controlled air patrol, naval vessels, and land-based missile systems.
“46 PLA aircraft and 4 PLAN vessels around our surrounding region were detected today (Nov. 6, 2022) until 1700 (GMT+8). #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and responded to these activities with aircraft in CAP, naval vessels, and land-based missile systems,” the Taiwanese defence ministry tweeted. Twenty-one of these detected aircraft had flown on the east part of the median line of the Taiwan Strait and the Southwest Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). The aircraft named by the Taiwanese defence ministry are JH-7, CH-4, SU-302, J-114, J-168, BZK-005, Y-8 ASW2, KJ-500, WZ-7. This Chinese activity is not an isolated incident, as the Taiwanese defence ministry almost daily reports it as occurring. On Saturday as well, 9 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft and 2 of its naval vessels in Taiwan’s surrounding region were detected. The Republic of China Armed Forces monitored the situation and responded to these activities. Moreover, the US senior director of the foundation for the Defense of Democracies Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation, Mark Montgomery, warned Taiwan and said that China would use cyber-attacks rather than its military against Taipei, the Taipei Times reported, citing Voice of America’s Chinese-language Web site.Voice of America’s Chinese language website updated and quoted Montgomery as saying that Beijing might try to use cyber tools to destroy Taiwan’s satellite communications, according to the Taipei Times. He further said that the US assistance would involve researching critical infrastructure, finding vulnerabilities, and devising ways to protect against them. Montgomery was one of the authors of a report titled “The Attack on America’s Future: Cyber-Enabled Economic Warfare,” which was published on Friday by the US Help Needed Foundation.According to Taipei Times, the report said that the US must work with allies to defend against cyberattacks by aggressive nations. “Cyberattacks on critical infrastructure could disrupt a US military mobilisation in defence of Taiwan or interfere with other military operations by China’s adversaries,” the report said.