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Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi’s Son Raises Health Alarm, Junta Says ‘Good Health’
Myanmar’s junta has said that detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi is “in good health,” a day after her son told Reuters he has received little information about the 80-year-old’s condition and fears she could die without him knowing.
In an interview in Tokyo earlier this week, Kim Aris said he had not heard from his mother in years and believes she is being held incommunicado in Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw.
No Proof Of Health
Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was detained after a 2021 military coup in Myanmar that ousted her elected civilian government and sparked a civil war. She is serving a 27-year sentence on charges including incitement, corruption and election fraud — all of which she denies.
“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is in good health,” a statement posted on junta-run Myanmar Digital News said on Tuesday, using an honorific for the former leader. The statement offered no evidence or details about her condition.
“The military claims she is in good health, yet they refuse to provide any independent proof, no recent photograph, no medical verification, and no access by family, doctors, or international observers. If she is truly well, they can prove it,” Aris told Reuters on Wednesday in response to the statement.
A Myanmar junta spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment.
Fearing The Worst
In the interview earlier this week, Aris had said he hopes an upcoming multi-phase election in Myanmar, starting December 28, might offer an opportunity for the military to release Suu Kyi or move her to house arrest.
Myanmar’s military has a history of releasing prisoners to mark holidays or important events. Aung San Suu Kyi was freed in 2010, days after an election in Myanmar, ending a previous long period of detention.
Aris has joined a chorus of critics, including several foreign governments, dismissing the polls as a sham aimed at legitimising military rule.
The junta accused Aris of trying to disrupt the election — the first general poll since 2020, when the military accused Suu Kyi of committing fraud.
“This is merely a fabrication, timed and distributed to disrupt the free and fair multi-party democratic general election that will be held in Myanmar in the near future,” the junta statement said.
Dissolved Party
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, Myanmar’s largest political party, remains dissolved, and several other anti-junta political groups are boycotting the polls.
“I have no intention of interfering in Burma’s politics. But after years of total isolation, secrecy, and silence, any son would begin to fear the worst,” Aris added in response to the junta’s statement.
“My concern is growing because my mother has been hidden for so long that I now have to ask the most painful question: is she still alive?”
(with inputs from Reuters)
Bondi Beach Attack: Australia To Pass Emergency Gun Laws
The leader of the state of New South Wales in Australia said on Wednesday he will recall parliament next week to pass wide-ranging reforms of gun and protest laws, days after the country’s deadliest mass shooting in three decades.
The alleged father-and-son perpetrators opened fire on a Jewish Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s famed Bondi Beach on Sunday, in an attack that shook the nation and intensified fears of rising antisemitism and violent extremism.
Chris Minns, the Premier of the state, where the attack took place, told a news conference that the parliament of Australia would return on December 22 to hear “urgent” reforms to the laws, including capping the number of firearms allowed by a single person and making certain types of shot gun harder to access.
The state government will also look at reforms, making it harder to hold large street protests after terror events, in order to prevent further tensions.
“We’ve got a monumental task in front of us. It’s huge,” he said.
“It’s a huge responsibility to pull the community together. I think we need a summer of calm and togetherness, not division.”
To Be Charged Soon
Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead by police at the scene, while his 24-year-old son, Naveed Akram, emerged from a coma on Tuesday afternoon after also being shot by police.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said earlier on Wednesday the surviving gunman would be charged within hours, but New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon told a news conference the force was still waiting for the medication to wear off before formally questioning him.
Akram remains in a Sydney hospital under heavy police guard.
The men accused of carrying out Sunday’s attack had travelled to the southern Philippines, a region long plagued by Islamist militancy, weeks before the shooting that Australian police said appeared to be inspired by Islamic State.
U.S. President Donald Trump told a Hanukkah event at the White House late on Tuesday that he was thinking of the victims of the “horrific and antisemitic terrorist attack”.
“We join in mourning all of those who were killed, and we’re praying for the swift recovery of the wounded,” he said.
Funerals Begin
Funerals of the Jewish victims of Sunday’s attack began on Wednesday, amid anger over how the gunmen – one of whom was briefly investigated for links to extremists – were allowed access to powerful firearms.
A funeral for Rabbi Eli Schlanger, an assistant rabbi at Chabad Bondi Synagogue and a father of five, was held on Wednesday.
He was known for his work for Sydney’s Jewish community through Chabad, a global organisation fostering Jewish identity and connection. Schlanger would travel to prisons and meet with Jewish people living in Sydney’s public housing communities, Jewish leader Alex Ryvchin said on Monday.
Albanese is facing criticism that his centre-left government did not do enough to prevent the spread of antisemitism in Australia during the two-year Israel-Gaza war.
“We will work with the Jewish community, we want to stamp out and eradicate antisemitism from our society,” Albanese told reporters.
The government and intelligence services are also under pressure to explain why Sajid Akram was allowed to legally acquire the high-powered rifles and shotguns used in the attack. The government of Australia has already promised sweeping reforms to gun laws.
Akram’s son, meanwhile, was briefly investigated by Australia’s domestic intelligence agency in 2019 over alleged links to Islamic State, but there was no evidence at the time he posed a threat, Albanese said.
Hero To Undergo Surgery
Albanese said Ahmed al-Ahmed, 43, the man who tackled one of the shooters to disarm his rifle and suffered gunshot wounds, was due to undergo surgery on Wednesday.
Al-Ahmed’s uncle, Mohammed al-Ahmed, in Syria, said his nephew left his hometown in Syria’s northwest province of Idlib nearly 20 years ago to seek work in Australia.
“We learned through social media. I called his father, and he told me that it was Ahmed. Ahmed is a hero; we’re proud of him. Syria, in general, is proud of him,” the uncle told Reuters.
The family of 22-year-old police officer Jack Hibbert, who was shot twice on Sunday and had been on the force for just four months, said in a statement on Wednesday that he had lost vision in one eye and faced a “long and challenging recovery” ahead.
“In the face of a violent and tragic incident, he responded with courage, instinct, and selflessness, continuing to protect and help others whilst injured, until he was physically no longer able to,” the family said.
Health authorities said 22 people were still in several Sydney hospitals.
Victims
Other shooting victims included a Holocaust survivor, a husband and wife who first approached the gunmen before they started firing, and a 10-year-old girl named Matilda, according to interviews, officials and media reports.
Matilda’s father told a Bondi vigil on Tuesday night he did not want his daughter’s legacy to be forgotten.
“We came here from Ukraine … and I thought that Matilda is the most Australian name that can ever exist. So just remember the name, remember her,” local media reported him as saying.
In Bondi on Wednesday, swimmers gathered on Sydney’s most popular beach and held a minute’s silence.
“This week has obviously been very profound, and this morning, I definitely feel a sense of the community getting together, and a sense of everyone sitting together,” Archie Kalaf, a 24-year-old Bondi man, told Reuters. “Everyone’s grieving, everyone’s understanding and processing it in their own way.”
(with inputs from Reuters)
Expert Explains How Fujian Shapes China’s Taiwan Strategy
It may not be well known that China’s provinces bordering other countries have a role to play in proposing ideas that strengthen bilateral economic cooperation and people-to-people contact. Fujian, the province facing Taiwan across 100-km of the water, has emerged as a frontline laboratory for Beijing’s cross-strait strategy. It is in fact a testing ground for Taiwan policy.
A Provincial Role in China’s Taiwan Policy
Two years back, Beijing designated Fujian as a Cross-Strait Integration and Development Demonstration Zone and laid down 21 measures aimed at deepening economic, social and cultural ties with Taiwan. Then this year, the province established Taiwan affairs offices in every county and district.
Swayamsiddha Samal, PhD Scholar at the Centre for East Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, who is researching Fujian’s role in China’s Taiwan policy, argues that the province is neither a passive executor nor an independent policy-maker. Beijing sets the strategic direction, she told StratNewsGlobal, while provinces like Fujian are expected to design locally tailored policies that operationalise these directives.
At the same time, Beijing sharply curbs Fujian’s autonomy in three key ways. No matter how innovative a local initiative may be, it cannot become policy without central approval. Provinces can propose ideas, but the centre ultimately decides which ones matter. As a result, Fujian’s role remains experimental, with its strategic boundaries firmly defined from the top.
Swayamsiddha further told StratNews Global that Xi Jinping has personally urged Fujian to explore new paths for integrated development and improve Taiwanese livelihoods through economic incentives, but only within politically defined limits. Innovation is encouraged, but deviation is not.
From Provincial Experiments to National Policy
Nevertheless, some proposals originating in Fujian have been implemented at the national level. One key example is the Western Taiwan Straits Economic Zone, first proposed by Fujian in 2004 and approved in 2009. Over time, it evolved into a free trade zone linking Fujian more closely with Taiwan, aimed at attracting Taiwanese businesses, professionals and young entrepreneurs.
According to a forthcoming research paper by Swayamsiddha Samal, expected to be published in the coming months, these Fujian-tested initiatives later informed broader national policies.
Samal told StratNewsGlobal that measures such as the recognition of professional qualifications for Taiwanese citizens, equal treatment for Taiwanese enterprises in financing and government procurement, expanded employment and education benefits, and start-up incentives for Taiwanese youth all originated from this provincial experimentation.
Samal observes that in 2001, during Xi Jinping’s tenure as governor of Fujian, direct postal, commercial, and transportation connections were inaugurated with Taiwan’s Kinmen and Matsu islands under what was known as the “Three Mini Links” initiative.
“Taken together, these cases show that Fujian does more than simply implement directives from Beijing,” Samal said. “The province innovates, tests feasibility and demonstrates results, which are then scaled up nationally under central supervision.”
Symbolism and Strategic Constraints
From Beijing’s point of view, it’s also important that there be progress towards “reunification”. This progress is assessed not only through economic performance and integration metrics, but also by closely watching developments in Taiwan’s domestic politics, including which political parties gain ground and what those outcomes suggest about public attitudes towards China.
But the way the Chinese system works is the focus on what Swayamsiddha Samal describes as largely process-oriented metrics. Success is measured by policies issued, events organised and funds spent, not so much by whether attitudes are really changing in Taiwan.
So we have the situation where Taiwanese identity has continued to strengthen, support for reunification has declined, and Taiwanese investment in Fujian reportedly fell by around 80 per cent year on year in 2023. At the same time, Beijing’s military buildup opposite Taiwan has undermined its stated “hearts and minds” strategy, often reinforcing scepticism rather than goodwill within Taiwanese society.
But the Chinese system continues to roll, with activity, discipline and visible effort prioritised over whether policies actually shift public opinion in Taiwan or advance reunification in any meaningful way.
As Tibetans Mark Legacy Of 6th Dalai Lama, China’s Shadow Looms
Three demands by members of the Standing Committee of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, who called on MPs attending the winter session of parliament in Delhi on Monday: Tibet should be recognised as an occupied nation with a historically sovereign past, China should open a dialogue with the Dalai Lama’s representatives or the democratically elected Tibetan leadership and the UN should study the impact of China’s activities on Tibet’s environment.
Nobody is under any illusion that the above could happen but it is important to ensure that the cause of Tibet remains on the public radar, more so now when China is forcefully asserting that it alone has the right to decide on the next or 15th Dalai Lama.
Gyaltsen Norbu, the Beijing-appointed Panchen Lama, at an event in Shigatse earlier this month, said that the reincarnation of “living Buddhas” must be identified within China and approved by the central government, adding that the process should take place “without any interference or control from organisations or individuals outside the country.”
Noted Journalist and Tibetologist Vijay Kranti called the claim ironic. “A Communist Party that does not believe in religion, that has worked for 70 years to destroy Tibet’s religious identity, and that has used abusive language against the current Dalai Lama, now suddenly claims the right to appoint the next one. Anyone who understands Tibet finds this absurd.”
Tibetologist Claude Arpi pointed out that the 14th or current Dalai Lama has already asserted that his office, the Gaden Phodrang Trust, will decide on the reincarnation.
He also underscored the “historically sovereign past” of Tibet. An international conference in Tawang that concluded recently, came out with papers and studies on the 6th Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso.
“It is uncontested history that the Sixth Dalai Lama was born in Mon Tawang, identified here as a reincarnation of the Fifth Dalai Lama, taken to Lhasa and enthroned,” said Moji Riba from the Center for Cultural Research and Documentation, who was one of the key organisers behind the conference.
“The conference held in Tawang shows that the Dalai Lama can be born outside Tibet, Claude Arpi said.
China responded quickly. A Chinese state-linked media called it a “farce” and accused India of using religion for political ends. “Anything in Tawang automatically triggers the question—does it belong to India or China?” said Moji Riba. “But we fly the tricolour here. Who can take that right away from us?”
In fact the conference was intended to reclaim Tsangyang Gyatso’s legacy before China appropriated it. He rejected strict monastic rules, gave up novice vows and chose poetry over ritual. His verses spoke of love, freedom and longing, making him unusually close to ordinary people.
“He was anti-dogma and open to the public,” said International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) spokesperson, comparing his approach to India’s Bhakti saints such as Kabir and Nanak.
The China angle to Gyatso only comes with a sinister edge to it. Official history records his death in 1706 while being taken to China. But another version suggests he escaped and travelled to Mongolia. There are monasteries and strong oral traditions in Mongolia that attribute teachings and poetry to him. He is described as a mystic figure.
The pity is China is playing politics with some of the most revered figures of Tibetan Buddhism.
Australia: Dead Bondi Beach Shooter Originally From Hyderabad
Australia’s Bondi Beach shooter has an Indian connection: the elder of the two shooters Sajid Akram was originally from Hyderabad and left to study in Australia in 1998. That’s according to media reports quoting his relatives in the city.
Sajid apparently was not in close touch with his family and had cut off relations over a family dispute. He was in Hyderabad in 2022 and still held an Indian passport although his son Naveed, the other shooter who is undergoing treatment in a Sydney hospital, and a daughter are Australian citizens.
Police said there was nothing to indicate any ideological connection between Sajid’s alleged radicalisation and India.
But the Philippine immigration authorities have confirmed that Sajid and Navid entered the country on Nov 1 this year, leaving on Nov 28. They reportedly declared Davao in the southern Philippines as their final destination.
Davao on the island of Mindanao is an impoverished region where Islamic groups have historically operated. The Abu Sayyaf group, for example, had claimed allegiance to the Islamic State and currently fields around 100 armed fighters. It wants to establish an Islamic state and impose sharia law.
The Philippine authorities were unable to confirm if Sajid and Navid had any military training during their Davao visit. So the purpose of their visit to the Philippines continues to be a subject of investigation.
Manila to Protest China’s “Aggressive Acts” After South China Sea Clash
The Philippines said on Monday it will formally protest what it described as the Chinese coast guard’s “harassment and endangerment” of Filipino fishermen near Sabina Shoal, following a violent encounter that left three injured and damaged two fishing boats.
Fishermen Injured in Water Cannon Attack
According to the Philippine coast guard, Chinese vessels fired water cannons and cut the anchor lines of Filipino fishing boats operating within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on Friday. The incident occurred near Sabina Shoal also known as Escoda Shoal to Manila and Xianbin Reef to Beijing about 150 kilometres west of Palawan province.
Manila expressed alarm over the use of force, calling the Chinese coast guard’s actions unjustifiable. “The use of water cannons and dangerous manoeuvres that cause injury and damage cannot be justified,” the Philippines’ maritime council said in a statement.
The council confirmed that the government would file a formal diplomatic protest, or demarche, to the Chinese embassy in Manila on Monday. “The Philippines will undertake the appropriate diplomatic response and register its strong objection to these actions,” it said, urging China to immediately halt such “aggressive acts.”
Beijing Blames Manila for “Provocation”
China’s foreign ministry disputed Manila’s account, accusing the Philippines of sending a “large number of ships” to Sabina Shoal to “create trouble.” Spokesperson Guo Jiakun claimed Filipino vessels ignored repeated warnings and “took dangerous actions,” even “brandishing knives to threaten Chinese coast guard officers.”
On Friday, China’s coast guard said it had “driven away multiple Philippine vessels and taken control measures.” Manila dismissed that statement as “deeply troubling,” accusing Beijing of escalating tensions in the South China Sea.
“We call on the CCG to act responsibly, adhere to international maritime conduct, and prioritise the preservation of life at sea over actions that sow fear and endanger civilians,” the Philippine maritime council said.
U.S. Backs Manila, China Warns Washington
The United States, a treaty ally of the Philippines, condemned China’s actions. “We stand with our Philippine allies as they confront China’s provocative actions and increasingly dangerous tactics against its neighbours,” said U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott, adding that such behaviour undermines regional stability.
China responded by warning Washington not to “interfere in maritime matters” or “incite confrontation,” reiterating its claim to sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea—a waterway that handles more than $3 trillion in annual trade.
Long-Standing Dispute
Sabina Shoal lies within the Philippines’ EEZ, an area validated by a 2016 international arbitral tribunal ruling that rejected Beijing’s sweeping territorial claims as having no basis under international law. China, however, continues to disregard the verdict.
The latest confrontation adds to a series of escalating maritime incidents between the two countries and underscores growing tensions in one of the world’s most contested waters.
(with inputs from Reuters)
China: Graft Probes Trigger Steep $88 Bn Fall In Arms Revenues
China’s leading defense companies saw revenues decline in 2024, standing in sharp contrast to robust global growth in the arms industry, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
The downturn underscores how political turmoil and corruption investigations have disrupted China’s state-owned defense sector despite rising worldwide demand for weapons.
Globally, sales by the 100 largest arms-producing companies rose by nearly 6% in 2024 to about $679 billion. SIPRI attributed the increase to the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, intensifying geopolitical tensions and higher military spending.
Defense firms across the Indo-Pacific benefited from these trends, with revenues surging roughly 40% in Japan, 31% in South Korea and 8% in India. In the United States, 39 companies in the top 100 recorded a combined revenue increase of 3.8% to $334 billion. Indonesia also entered the ranking for the first time, as state-owned Defend ID posted a strong rise in sales.
The eight Chinese companies included in SIPRI’s top 100 reported a combined revenue decline of around 10%, totaling $88.3 billion. Some of the country’s largest defense manufacturers were particularly affected. Norinco, China’s primary producer of land-based weapons, saw revenue fall by more than 30%.
Sales also dropped at Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the nation’s largest arms maker, and at China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), a key supplier of missile and aerospace systems.
SIPRI linked the slump to corruption probes and leadership changes that disrupted arms procurement and slowed project approvals. Investigations into defense contracting led to reviews, delays and the postponement or cancellation of major orders, creating uncertainty across the industry.
The problems facing China’s arms firms mirror a broader political crackdown under President Xi Jinping, who has intensified efforts to root out corruption within the Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army.
Analysts warn that ongoing disruptions could hinder China’s military modernization plans as it seeks to field advanced capabilities by the PLA’s centenary in 2027.
EU Eases Car Emissions Ban Amid Industry Pressure
The European Commission is preparing to soften the EU’s 2035 ban on new combustion-engine cars, permitting certain non-electric vehicles to remain on sale after facing strong opposition from Germany, Italy, and the wider European automotive industry.
The EU executive appears to have yielded to the call from carmakers to be allowed to keep selling plug-in hybrids and range extenders that burn CO2-neutral biofuel or synthetic fuel as they struggle to compete against Tesla and Chinese electric vehicles.
Under current EU rules, all new cars from 2035 must have zero emissions. But under Tuesday’s proposal, the reduction of CO2 emissions will be reduced by 90% from 2021 levels, instead of 100%.
Manfred Weber – the German president of the EPP, the largest group in the European Parliament – said his understanding was that the 90% level had been agreed upon by the Commission and that the scaled-back reduction still represented progress.
Eu Climate Climb-Down As Ford Kills EVs
The move, which will need approval from EU governments and the European Parliament, would be the EU’s most significant climb-down from its green policies of the past five years.
It comes as U.S. carmaker Ford Motor announced on Monday it would take a $19.5 billion writedown and is killing several electric-vehicle models, in response to the Trump administration’s policies and weakening EV demand.
Eu Lagging China In EV Race
The electric vehicle industry warned that easing EU emissions targets will undermine investment and give China an edge in the EV transition.
The Commission will outline plans to increase EVs in corporate fleets, which make up about 60% of new car sales. Measures may include local content requirements, though the industry prefers incentives over mandates.
It is also expected to propose a new category for small EVs with lower taxes and extra CO2 credits, alongside credits for sustainable production such as using low-carbon steel.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Meta’s $3 Billion Fraud Problem: How Chinese Advertisers Exploited Facebook and Instagram
Meta Platforms has faced mounting scrutiny after internal documents revealed that Chinese advertisers defrauded millions of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp users worldwide, even as the company continued to profit from the activity.
$3 Billion in Fraudulent Ads Linked to China
Despite Beijing banning Meta’s platforms domestically, Chinese companies freely advertise to foreign users a lucrative business that generated over $18 billion in revenue for Meta in 2024, accounting for more than 10% of its global income. According to internal documents reviewed by Reuters, around 19% of that revenue roughly $3 billion came from scam ads, illegal gambling, pornography and other prohibited content.
The cache of documents, produced by Meta’s finance, lobbying, engineering and safety divisions, shows executives long understood the scale of abuse and the tension between cleaning up harmful content and protecting profits. Meta’s data indicated that China was responsible for nearly a quarter of all scam or banned ads globally, affecting victims from Taiwan to North America.
“We need to make significant investment to reduce growing harm,” staff warned in an April 2024 presentation. Meta formed a special anti-fraud task force, cutting illicit ads from China by half within six months until CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly intervened.
Following what documents described as an “Integrity Strategy pivot,” the team’s work was paused, the task force disbanded and restrictions on new Chinese ad agencies lifted. Within months, fraudulent ads surged again, reaching 16% of Meta’s China ad revenue by mid-2025.
Business Over Integrity
An outside consultancy, Propellerfish, warned Meta that its own policies fostered “systemic corruption” in the Chinese ad market. The report found that Meta’s partner system involving 11 top-tier Chinese ad resellers had created an opaque web of intermediaries that enabled scammers to evade detection.
Internal reports also revealed that Meta’s “whitelisting” process allowed suspect ads from major Chinese partners to remain online pending human review, often for days. “The added time for secondary review is adequate for scammers to accomplish their objectives,” one internal memo noted.
Even after identifying top Chinese advertisers repeatedly breaking its rules including Beijing Tengze Technology Co Ltd Meta continued doing business with them, imposing higher fees rather than termination. Staff later noted that halting such accounts would hurt revenue, with one remarking that enforcement must consider “the revenue impact.”
Meta’s Response and Fallout
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone told Reuters that the China-focused anti-fraud team was always intended as a temporary measure and denied that Zuckerberg ordered its shutdown. He said Meta has removed 46 million Chinese ads and penalised partners who ran too many violations.
“Scams are spiking across the internet,” Stone said, citing sophisticated criminal syndicates. “We are focused on rooting them out globally.”
However, the documents suggest Meta has tolerated persistent misconduct from Chinese advertisers, which internal teams dubbed the “Scam Exporting Nation.” Analysts noted that during China’s national holidays, global scam activity on Meta’s platforms noticeably declines evidence of how central China has become to the fraud ecosystem.
Federal prosecutors in the United States have already tied Chinese-linked ad campaigns to major financial crimes, including a $214 million stock fraud case. Lawmakers in Washington have urged regulators to investigate Meta’s handling of scam advertising, warning of potential consumer and investor harm.
Despite intermittent crackdowns, internal records from early 2025 show Meta ultimately chose to “maintain the percentage of global harm” caused by Chinese advertisers rather than eliminate it effectively accepting a base level of fraud as the cost of doing business.
(with inputs from Reuters)
Taiwan Says Military Can React Instantly to Any Sudden Chinese Attack
Taiwan’s military can swiftly respond to any sudden assault from China under a decentralised command system that allows individual units to act without waiting for top-level approval, the island’s defence ministry said in a report submitted to lawmakers.
Decentralised Command for Rapid Response
The ministry said Taiwan’s armed forces are prepared to shift immediately from regular alert status to combat readiness if Chinese drills suddenly turn into live military operations. “If the enemy suddenly launches an attack, all units are to implement ‘distributed control’ without waiting for orders and, under a ‘decentralised’ mode of command, carry out their combat missions,” the report stated.
Officials did not elaborate on operational specifics but said the mechanism ensures that field units can maintain communication, coordination and continuity of command even if higher-level systems are disrupted during an assault.
The move reflects growing concerns in Taipei that Beijing could exploit the island’s constant vigilance by converting routine military exercises into real attacks without warning.
Escalating Chinese Military Pressure
Beijing, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, has increased military pressure over the past year through near-daily flights and naval manoeuvres around the island. Taiwan’s defence ministry described these operations as part of a “grey zone” campaign sustained military harassment designed to exhaust Taiwan’s forces and morale without triggering open conflict.
According to the report, the frequency and intensity of China’s “joint combat readiness patrols” continue to rise. The ministry warned that China’s forces have expanded their reach, sending warships deeper into the Pacific and towards Australia and New Zealand as part of joint service drills increasingly focused on real-combat conditions.
“The Chinese communists have never renounced the use of force to annex Taiwan,” the ministry said, adding that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has evolved its exercises from symbolic demonstrations to integrated, multi-domain operations.
Beijing Accuses Taipei of “Peddling War Anxiety”
China’s defence ministry dismissed the concerns, accusing Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te of “hyping up” the threat from the mainland and “peddling war anxiety.” In a statement, Beijing urged “Taiwan compatriots to clearly recognise the extreme danger and harmfulness of the Lai authorities’ frantic ‘preparing for war to seek independence’.”
Taiwan’s government, however, maintains that only its citizens have the right to determine the island’s future, rejecting Beijing’s sovereignty claims. Defence Minister Wellington Koo is scheduled to brief lawmakers further on the report on Wednesday.
As both sides continue their rhetorical and military escalation, Taiwan’s emphasis on decentralised readiness signals an attempt to ensure it can respond instantly even if caught off guard by a sudden shift from drill to war.
(with inputs from Reuters)