DefenceTalkA US warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait, the American navy said Thursday, a day after a top US commander warned of the threat to Taiwan of a Chinese invasion within the next six years. The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS John Finn conducted a routine transit yesterday through the waterway separating the Chinese […]

DefenceTalkMicrosoft has said a state-sponsored hacking group operating out of China is exploiting previously unknown security flaws in its Exchange email services to steal data from business users. The company said the hacking group, which it has named “Hafnium”, is a “highly skilled and sophisticated actor”. Hafnium has in the past targeted US-based companies including […]

DefenceTalkToday, we’re sharing information about a state-sponsored threat actor identified by the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) that we are calling Hafnium. Hafnium operates from China, and this is the first time we’re discussing its activity. It is a highly skilled and sophisticated actor. Historically, Hafnium primarily targets entities in the United States for the […]

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkFour retired Taiwanese military intelligence officers — including a major general — have been indicted for spying for China, prosecutors said Saturday. The quartet were charged with developing a spying network and collecting confidential information for Beijing, the Taipei district prosecutors’ office said. The two sides have been spying on each other since the Nationalists […]https://www.defencetalk.com/four-taiwan-ex-intelligence-officers-charged-with-spying-for-china-76803/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkChina conducted a land-based, midcourse missile interception test on Thursday-the fifth land-based, anti-ballistic missile test the country has publicly announced. The Defense Ministry said in a brief statement late on Thursday that the test had achieved its goals, and the operation was defensive in nature, not targeting any other country. Before the latest operation, China […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-tests-its-missile-interception-equipment-76769/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkChina on Friday warned off a US warship sailing near contested islands in the South China Sea, Beijing said, the first such encounter made public since the inauguration of President Joe Biden. The USS John S. McCain “broke into China’s Xisha territorial waters without the permission of the Chinese government,” Beijing’s military said in a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/beijing-warns-off-us-warship-from-south-china-sea-islands-76766/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkOne week into the job, US President Joe Biden has sent a clear warning to Beijing against any expansionist intentions in East and Southeast Asia. In multiple calls and statements, he and his top security officials have underscored support for allies Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, signalling Washington’s rejection of China’s disputed territorial claims in […]https://www.defencetalk.com/in-multiple-messsages-biden-warns-beijing-over-expansionism-76698/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalk The United States’ commitment to Taiwan is “rock-solid”, the State Department said late Saturday, as it warned that China’s “attempts to intimidate” the island are a threat to regional peace. The comments are the first from Washington on relations with Taiwan since President Joe Biden’s inauguration last week, and came on the same day […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-says-support-for-taiwan-rock-solid-as-chinese-jets-buzz-island-76688/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkCalifornia WeChat users sued its parent company Tencent on Wednesday, saying the mobile app is used for spying on and censoring users for the Chinese government. US-based nonprofit Citizen Power Initiatives for China (CPIFC) filed the suit in Silicon Valley, joined by a half-dozen California residents in urging a state court to order Tencent to […]https://www.defencetalk.com/california-wechat-users-claim-china-surveillance-in-lawsuit-76684/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkWith the end of his presidency looming, Donald Trump on Tuesday launched a crusade against Chinese apps, branding them a threat to US national security. Trump ordered a ban on transactions involving Alipay, WeChat Pay and other apps linked to Chinese companies, saying they could route user information to the government in Beijing. The executive […]https://www.defencetalk.com/trump-targets-chinese-apps-as-his-days-in-office-dwindle-76647/