DefenceTalkTaiwan urged Beijing to stop “irresponsible provocative actions” after 56 Chinese warplanes crossed into its air defence zone on Monday in yet another record incursion. The defence ministry said it scrambled aircraft to broadcast warnings after 36 fighter jets, 12 H-6 nuclear-capable bombers and four other planes entered its southwest air defence identification zone (ADIZ). […]

DefenceTalkThe United States on Sunday slammed China for “provocative” and “destabilizing” military activity, after Chinese fighter jets and bombers made their largest-ever incursion into Taiwan’s air defense zone. “The United States is very concerned by the People’s Republic of China’s provocative military activity near Taiwan, which is destabilizing, risks miscalculations, and undermines regional peace and […]

DefenceTalkThe Royal Navy said a British warship was sailing through the Taiwan Strait on Monday, a move that challenges Beijing’s claim to the sensitive waterway and marks a rare voyage by a non-US military vessel. “After a busy period working with partners and allies in the East China Sea, we are now en route through […]

DefenceTalkChinese President Xi Jinping warned that relations between Beijing and Taipei were “grim” on Sunday, urging the island’s main opposition party to help seek “unification of the country.” China views self-ruled democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and vows to retake it one day, by force if necessary. Xi has become the most bellicose […]

DefenceTalkChina voiced opposition on Thursday to Taiwan joining a major trans-Pacific trade deal as it flew 24 planes including two nuclear-capable bombers into the self-ruled island’s air defence zone, the biggest incursion in weeks, Taiwanese officials said. Last week Beijing submitted its own application to become a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for […]

DefenceTalkFighter jets practiced landing on a highway in southern Taiwan on Wednesday as part of an annual live-fire military exercise that simulates defending the island against an invasion by China. Democratic Taiwan lives under constant threat of invasion by Beijing, which claims the island as part of its territory and has vowed to one day […]

DefenceTalkPentagon chief Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that Beijing’s expansive claims in the South China Sea have “no basis in international law”, taking aim at China’s growing assertiveness in the hotly contested waters. “That assertion treads on the sovereignty of the states in the region,” he said at the start of a trip to Southeast Asia, […]

DefenceTalkThe US Air Force’s Pacific commander condemned Chinese military flights off Malaysia and Taiwan, describing them on Friday as “escalatory” and “destabilising.” This week, 16 Chinese military aircraft flew over hotly contested waters off of Borneo prompting Malaysia’s air force to scramble its jets. General Kenneth Wilsbach said these activities and an increased number of […]

DefenceTalkUS President Joe Biden is expected to announce his strategy toward China soon, and calls are growing for him to make a clear public commitment to defend Taiwan militarily in the event of Chinese aggression. China considers Taiwan, which has a population of 23 million, to be a rebel province that will one day return […]

DefenceTalkThe United States on Wednesday warned China against what the Philippines and Taiwan see as increasingly aggressive moves, reminding Beijing of Washington’s obligations to its partners. “An armed attack against the Philippines’ armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the Pacific, including in the South China Sea, will trigger our obligations under the US-Philippines Mutual […]