Staying in the Asia-Pacific region, we have updates from Taiwan.
The island reported more Chinese military activities around the island on Thursday including helicopters, warships, and fighter jets.
Eleven of those aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait’s median line—an unofficial barrier between the two sides.
The drills come as Taiwan’s January election nears. Relations with China are a major point of contention.
China Ramping Up Cyberattacks Against Taiwan: Google
On top of military concerns, Google is now warning that Beijing is waging a number of cyberattacks on Taiwan.
A senior engineering manager in Google’s threat analysis division says that the tech giant has seen a quote, “massive increase” in Chinese cyberattacks on Taiwan in the past six months.
Just out of China alone, over a hundred groups are targeting everything including Taiwan’s defense sector, government, and private industry.
Views on China as ‘Enemy’ of the US Grow: Poll
Given the situation, that “enemy” label may be translating to the West.
A new U.S. poll finds over half of Americans see China as the greatest threat to the country.
That’s over Russia and Iran, despite the wars in Israel and Ukraine.
Nearly 80 percent of Americans view China as an “enemy”—up by more than 20 percent compared to 2018—before the pandemic.
Most of them also support building up the American military to counter a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
Taiwan President: China Too ‘Overwhelmed’ to Invade
So is an invasion imminent? What do leaders in Taiwan think?
In an interview with the New York Times, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen said China is too “overwhelmed” to consider an invasion.
She said that Chinese leadership is currently dealing with internal challenges and so she doesn’t think Beijing is planning a major invasion of Taiwan right now.
She pointed to China’s internal economic, financial, and political challenges as well as international pressure.