DefenceTalkDefenceTalkChinese jets made a record 380 incursions into Taiwan’s defence zone last year, a defence official said Tuesday, as a military-linked think-tank warned tensions were now at their highest since the mid-1990s. Democratic and self-ruled Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by authoritarian China, which views the island as its own territory and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/taiwan-says-chinese-fighter-jets-made-record-380-incursions-in-2020-76644/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkChina’s top diplomat on Monday called for the resumption of talks with the incoming US administration of president-elect Joe Biden, as relations between the world’s two largest economies continued to nosedive. Beijing and Washington have locked horns over issues from trade and China’s human rights record to its expansionist ambitions in the South China Sea. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-calls-for-new-talks-with-us-after-biden-win-76587/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkAustralia’s prime minister angrily denounced a “repugnant”, “outrageous” and “appalling” tweet from a top Chinese government spokesman Monday and demanded Beijing formally apologise. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian sparked the outrage when he posted a staged image of a man dressed as an Australian soldier holding a bloody knife to an Afghan child’s throat. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/australia-pm-slams-chinese-officials-repugnant-tweet-76575/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkChina said Monday it would impose sanctions on Lockheed Martin, a Boeing defence division and other US firms involved in arms sales to Taiwan, the self-governed island that Beijing views as its territory. The two US giants were involved in a recent sale of nearly $2 billion worth of missiles to Taiwan, alongside Raytheon, and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-to-sanction-us-firms-over-taiwan-arms-sale-76528/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkPresident Xi Jinping on Friday warned of China’s military resolve to defeat “invaders”, speaking on a 70th anniversary for the Korean War, the only time Chinese forces have fought the United States. In a long speech, heavy on patriotism and flecked by anecdotes of heroism by Chinese forces, Xi said victory in the 1950-53 conflict […]https://www.defencetalk.com/xi-invokes-chinese-military-might-with-us-in-mind-76522/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkThe US government on Wednesday said it had approved the sale of $1 billion worth of advanced air-to-ground missiles to Taiwan as the island tries to shore up its defenses against China. The State Department said it had agreed to sell 135 of the precision-guided, air-launched AGM-84H SLAM-ER cruise missiles. Also approved was the sale […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-to-sell-air-to-ground-missiles-to-taiwan-76514/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkChina on Thursday threatened to make a “legitimate and necessary” retaliation over the US sale of $1 billion worth of missiles to Taiwan as Beijing becomes increasingly strident over its claims to the self-ruled island. The US State Department said on Wednesday it had approved the sale of 135 air-to-ground missiles to Taiwan in a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-threatens-retaliation-over-us-taiwan-arms-sale-76511/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkEspionage in Australia had eclipsed Cold War levels, the country’s spymaster told parliament on Tuesday, in a speech warning that citizens were being monitored and harassed by foreign powers. Several politicians across the ideological spectrum have become embroiled in investigations into suspected overseas influence operations — most notably from China. Australia’s normally tight-lipped spy chiefs […]https://www.defencetalk.com/espionage-in-australia-at-higher-levels-than-cold-war-spy-chief-warns-76484/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkSweden has banned Chinese telecoms groups Huawei and ZTE from its 5G network for security reasons, the Swedish telecoms regulator said on Tuesday. The ban is in line with new legislation that entered into force in January 2020, following an examination by the Swedish armed forces and security service “to ensure that the use of […]https://www.defencetalk.com/sweden-bans-chinas-huawei-zte-from-5g-network-76481/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkNATO needs a new strategic concept adjusted to the global rise of new technologies, terrorism and China to replace a plan developed a decade ago, the head of the alliance said on Wednesday. French President Emmanuel Macron famously branded the alliance “brain dead” last year, demanding a new strategy that would, among other things, reopen […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nato-chief-calls-for-new-strategy-on-cyber-china-76447/