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China ominously mum over new exercises near Taiwan

HMAS Brisbane fires a Tomahawk Weapon System off the coast of San Diego, USA. (LSIS Daniel Goodman/Australian Defence Ministry)

NEWS AND ANALYSIS:

China’s People’s Liberation Army is conducting large-scale military naval and warplane operations near Taiwan, but unlike in the past has remained silent on its activities this time.

The Chinese military in October said publicly that the similarly scaled Joint Sword 2024 B exercises were meant to pressure Taiwan against declaring formal independence. But the lack of any announcement regarding this week’s drills has increased concern the exercises could be the first stage of an actual military attack, defense sources said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning referred questions about the war games to “competent authorities,” but acknowledged Wednesday that “the Taiwan question is the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-U.S. relations and this has always been our position.”

As of Wednesday, the Chinese army’s official website contained no information on the exercises.

The current military activities appear to be an effort by President Xi Jinping to again signal to the incoming Trump administration that Taiwan remains China’s most important red line.

The new exercises also followed a recent U.S. stopover by Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te in Hawaii that triggered Beijing’s ire and sparked charges of U.S. support for “separatism.”

Since Monday, when the Chinese exercises kicked off, the Taiwan Defense Ministry detected as many as 60 warships and 30 coast guard vessels taking part. About 100 warplanes were also monitored in the past several days, with many of the sorties crossing the median line dividing the Taiwan Strait.

Taiwan Defense Ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang said the Chinese naval deployment was the largest in nearly 30 years and poses a threat to Taiwan that is greater than previous war games.

China’s naval activities are taking place from an area south of Japan through the South China Sea. “The numbers are indeed astonishing,” Gen. Hsieh Jih-sheng, a senior Taiwanese ministry official, told reporters earlier this week.

U.S. defense sources said the latest exercises appear to be a third stage of Chinese war games called “Joint Sword 2024 C.” Two earlier Joint Sword drills were described by the military officials as practice runs for a future invasion of Taiwan.

Joint Sword 2024 B, held in October, appeared larger and involved as many as 150 warships, according to Taiwanese defense officials.

The Taiwan Defense Ministry stated on X: “Confronting normalized #PLA provocations, apathy is not an option. #ROCArmedForces seize every training opportunity!” ROC is the abbreviation for Republic of China, the island’s official name.

Elsewhere in the region, the U.S. Air Force disclosed this week that at least four A-10 warplanes temporarily deployed recently to Clark Air Base in the Philippines. The ground-attack aircraft were shown in photos published Friday by the Air Force.

The jets, known as Warthogs, are armed with 30-millimeter guns and are capable of carrying weapons payloads of up to 16,000 pounds. They were sent to the U.S. ally for integrated training with the Philippine air force through Dec. 15.

The jets are part of what the Air Force calls “dynamic force employment,” which seeks to create a more distributed and agile force deployment.

And Australia’s navy for the first time test-launched a Tomahawk cruise missile off the southern U.S. coast, the Australian Defense Ministry said in a statement Tuesday. The HMAS Brisbane, a Hobart-class destroyer, launched the missile in what the ministry said was a milestone for increasing its power.

Australia is buying more than 200 Tomahawks to be deployed on destroyers and future Virginia-class nuclear submarines planned for its navy.

“The Tomahawk is the jewel in the crown and a step change in our firepower, deterrence and ability to strike land-based targets at ranges never before available to the Royal Australian Navy,” said Pat Conroy, minister for defense industry and capability delivery.

The Tomahawk is a precision strike missile that can hit targets up to 1,550 miles away — enough to reach targets throughout southern China from waters near Australia.

Japan is also buying 400 Tomahawks. The Tomahawk sales to both nations are part of a new regional U.S. strategy that seeks to shift the emphasis from defensive systems such as missile defenses to more offensive weapons the Pentagon believes can more effectively deter China.

Chinese national arrested after drone flies near NRO launch

A Chinese national has been arrested for flying a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base in central California in a case of suspected spying on a National Reconnaissance Office, or NRO, launch, prosecutors announced this week.

Zhou Yinpiao, 39, was detected flying the small drone on Nov. 30 near Vandenberg, where U.S. missile defense interceptors are also deployed by a drone detection system at the base.

“The drone systems detected that the drone flew for nearly one hour, traveled to an altitude of almost one mile above ground level, and originated from Ocean Park, a public area next to the base,” the Justice Department said.

On the same day that the drone flew, a sensitive payload for NRO was launched from the base, an FBI complaint in the case said. The drone was a DJI model Mavic 2 sophisticated commercial quadcopter capable of taking images.

The drone was tracked flying near one of the launch complexes at the base that was used by SpaceX to launch the NRO satellite the same day. Security officials spoke to Mr. Zhou and another person with him, and found he had a drone concealed in his jacket that was later identified as the one that flew over the base.

FBI agents then searched the drone and found several photos of the base that were taken from the air.

A search of Mr. Zhou’s cellphone also revealed that he had conducted a Google search a month earlier on drone rules for Vandenberg. He also messaged another person about altering his drone with software to allow it to fly higher than normal.

Mr. Zhou was arrested by FBI agents as he tried to leave on a flight to China. He is charged with failure to register an aircraft not providing transportation and violation of defense airspace.

The accused was described by prosecutors as a U.S. permanent resident living in Brentwood, a wealthy section of Los Angeles.

Army Apache pilot denounces ’woke’ officers

Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Duncan J. Searcy, an Apache helicopter pilot with the Utah National Guard, went public in a video this week with harsh criticism of generals who adopted what he called “woke” policies in the military.

“We are currently ruled by a cabal, or a ruling class that consists of greedy executives, woke generals, corrupt politicians and satanic celebrities,” CW2 Searcy said in a video posted to X on Sunday. “Their goal is to constantly pit us against each other based upon our skin color, our religion, our class status and our politics, all for their gain,” he said.

CW2 Searcy said he is fed up and urged other Americans to “rise up” with him — within the bounds of the law — to take back the country.

Based on the opposition to President-elect Donald Trump, the helicopter pilot said he believes Mr. Trump is “on to something” and that Americans should give him a chance to fix and unite the country.

CW2 Searcy said he deployed to Afghanistan in 2020 and upon returning refused to take the COVID-19 vaccine and came under fire from his superiors.

CW2 Searcy said that the message is aimed at Congress and that he is claiming protection under federal whistleblower status. He said he tried unsuccessfully to solve the problems over the past four years through his chain of command by making inspector general complaints and by contacting members of Congress.

• Bill Gertz can be reached at bgertz@washingtontimes.com.

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